I) 


' 

_  ^lpSi*P 

;>2?*>^55  S^:^» 


University  of  California, 

FROM    THK    LIBRARY    OF 

D  K  .     F  R  A  N  C  I  S     LI  E  B  E  R  , 

Profo.-^ur  of  History  and  Law  in  Columbia  College,  New  York. 

THK   OIFT   OK    • 

MICHAEL     REESE, 

Of  San  Francisco. 


STRAY    LEAVES 


AN    ARCTIC    JOURNAL; 


OH, 


iit  %    0kr  gUns, 


IN   8KARCII   OF 

SIR    JOHN    FRANKLIN'S    EXPEDITION, 

IN  THE  YEARS  1850-51. 

BY  LIEUT.  SHERARD  OSBOKN, 

COMKANDINO   H.  M.   S.    VESSEL,    "  PIONEER." 
DEDICATED  TO  LADY  FRANKLIN. 


pi  fnl: 

GEORGE  P.  PUTNAM,  10  PARK  PLACE 

M  .  DCCC  .  LI  I. 


DEDICATION. 


A  CCEPT,  my  dear  Lady  Franklin,  these  few 
-^  pages,  as  the  warm  and  honest  tribute  of 
deserved  admiration  for  yourself  and  estimable 
niece,  Miss  Sophia  Cracroft — admiration,  which 
I  delight  in,  in  common  with  thousands,  that 
such  as  you  are  Englishwomen ;  and  pride,  that 
a  sailor's  wife  should  so  nobly  have  fulfilled 
her  duty;  for,  if,  on  the  one  hand,  the  name 
of  Sir  John  Franklin,  that  chief  "  sans  peur  et 
sans  reproche"  is  dearly  associated  with  our 
recollections  of  the  honours  won  in  the  ice 
bound  regions  of  the  Pole,  your  names  are 
not  the  less  so,  with  the  noble  efforts  made 
to  rescue,  or  solve  the  fate  of  our  missing 
countrymen. 

That    those   sacrifices,   those   untiring   exer 
tions,    that    zeal    which    has    never    wavered, 


6  DEDICATION. 

that  hope  so  steadfast,  since  it  is  that  of  an 
Englishwoman  for  her  husband,  that  patience 
under  misconstruction,  that  forgiveness  for  the 
sneer  of  jealousy,  and  that  pity  for  the  mali 
cious,  which  you  have  so  pre-eminently  dis 
played,  may  yet,  by  God's  help,  one  day  reap 
its  reward  in  the  accomplishment  of  your 
wishes,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 

SHERARD  OSBORN. 


PEEFACE. 


T  FEAR  with  the  many  of  my  cloth,  my  crime 
in  writing  a  book  will  be  an  unpardonable 
one  ;  the  more  so,  that  I  cannot  conscientiously 
declare,  that  it  has  been  at  the  urgent  desire 
of  my  friends,  &c.,  that  I  have  thus  made  my 
debut. 

My  motive  is  twofold :  to  tell  of  the  doings 
of  a  screw  steam-vessel,  the  first  ever  tried  in 
the  Polar  regions,  and  by  a  light,  readable  de 
scription  of  incidents  in  the  late  search  for  Sir 
John  Franklin,  to  interest  the  general  reader 
and  the  community  at  large  upon  that  subject. 
Without  fear,  favour,  or  affection,  I  have  told 
facts  as  they  have  occurred ;  and  I  trust  have, 
in  doing  so,  injured  no  man.  A  journal  must 


8  PREFACE. 

necessarily  be,  for  the  most,  a  dry  narration  of 
facts;  I  have,  therefore,  thrown  in  here  and 
there  general  observations  and  remarks  founded 
upon  such  facts,  rather  than  a  dry  repetition  of 
them. 

To  the  officers  and  men  serving  under  my 
command,  I  can  offer  no  higher  compliment  than 
in  having  thus  placed  their  severe  and  zealous 
labours  before  the  public  ;  and  no  professional 
reader  who  reads  these  "  Stray  Leaves,"  can  fail, 
I  am  certain,  to  perceive  how  heavily  must  have 
fallen  the  labours  here  recounted  upon  the  men 
and  officers  of  the  steam  tenders,  and  how  deep 
an  obligation  I  their  commander  must  be  under 
to  them  for  their  untiring  exertions,  by  which 
this,  the  first  and  severe  trial  of  steam  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  was  brought  to  a  successful 
issue. 

The  "Resolutes,"  no  doubt,  will  object  to  the 
round  terms  in  which  I  have  growled  at  the 
bluff-bowed  vessel  it  was  my  fate  and  now  my 
pride  to  have  towed  so  many  miles  in  the  Frozen 
Zone ;  but  on  second  thoughts,  I  doubt  not  they 
will  acquit  me,  for  they  will  remember  the  joke 


PREFACE.  9 

> 

was  once  on  their  side  ;  and  if  I  do  not  love  their 
ship,  at  any  rate  I  liked  them. 

To  Lieutenant  W.  May  and  Mr.  M'Dougal, 
I  am  much  indebted  for  their  faithful  sketches. 
I  fear  my  letter-press  is  unworthy  of  the  com 
panionship. 

To  those  who  may  accuse  me  of  egotism  in 
confining  my  remarks  so  much  to  the  achieve 
ments  of  my  own  vessel,  I  have  merely  to  say, 
that  in  doing  so,  I  was  best  able  to  be  truthful ; 
but  that  I  am  fully  aware  that  to  the  other  screw 
steamer,  the  "  Intrepid,"  and  my  gallant  friend 
and  colleague,  Commander  J.  B.  Cator,  there  fell 
an  equal  amount  of  labour ;  and  that  to  all,  ships 
as  well  as  screws,  there  was  an  equal  proportion 
of  hardship,  danger,  and  privation.  I  should 
indeed  be  forgetful  as  well  as  ungrateful,  did  I 
here  fail  to  acknowledge  the  more  than  kindness 
and  assistance  I  have  ever  experienced  from  my 
friend  Mr.  Barrow,  a  name  past  and  present  in 
separably  connected  with  our  Arctic  discoveries ; 
so  likewise  I  have  to  offer  my  thanks,  heartfelt 
as  they  are  sincere,  to  those  who,  like  Admiral 
Sir  Francis  Beaufort  and  Captain  Hamilton  of 


10  PREFACE. 

the  Admiralty,  bade  me  speed,  when  sincerity 
and  zeal  was  all  I  had  to  boast,  and  who  dared 
to  overlook  the  crime  of  youth,  and  granted  to 
"  seven-and-twenty"  the  deference  which  "five- 
and-fifty"  alone  can  claim. 

RICHMOND,  Feb.  15,  1852. 


STEAY    LEAVES 


AN    ARCTIC    JOURNAL 


rTlHE  evils  attendant  on  a  hurried  outfit  and  departure,  as  is 
•*•  the  usual  man-of-war  custom,  were  in  no  wise  mitigated 
in  the  case  of  the  Royal  Naval  Expedition,  fitted  out  at 
Woolwich,  in  1850,  to  search  for  Sir  John  Franklin's  Squad 
ron  ;  and  a  general  feeling  of  joy  at  our  departure  prevailed 
amongst  us,  when,  one  fine  morning,  we  broke  ground  from 
Greenhithe. 

The  "  Resolute"  and  "  Assistance"  had  a  couple  of  steam 
ers  to  attend  upon  them ;  whilst  we,  the  "  Pioneer"  and  "  In 
trepid,"  screwed  and  sailed,  as  requisite  to  keep  company. 
By  dark  of  the  4th  of  May,  1850,  we  all  reached  an  anchorage 
near  Yarmouth ;  and  the  first  stage  of  our  outward  journey 
was  over. 

No  better  proof  of  the  good  feeling  which  animated  our 
crews  can  be  adduced  than  the  unusual  fact  of  not  a  man 
being  missing  amongst  those  who  had  originally  entered, — 
not  a  desertion  had  taken  place, — not  a  soul  had  attempted 
to  quit  the  vessels,  after  six  months'  advance  had  been  paid. 

Here-  and  there  amongst  the  seamen  a  half-sleepy  indiffer- 


12  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

ence  to  their  work  was  observable.  This  I  imputed  to  the 
reaction  after  highly  sentimental  "  farewells,,"  in  which,  like 
other  excesses,  Jack  delights  ;  the  women  having,  as  usual, 
done  all  they  could,  by  crying  alongside,  to  make  the  men 
believe  they  were  running  greater  risks  than  had  ever  been 
before  undergone  by  Arctic  navigators. 
The  old  seamen's  ditty  of — 

"  We  sailed  by  Fairlee,  by  Beachey,  and  Dungeness, 
Until  the  North  Foreland  light  we  did  see" — 

gives  a  very  good  idea  of  our  progress  from  beacon  to  light 
house,  and  lighthouse  to  headland,  until  the  lofty  coast  of 
Yorkshire  sunk  under  the  lee;  and  by  the  8th  of  May  the 
squadron  was  making  slow  progress  across  the  mouth  of  the 
Frith  of  Forth.  Hitherto,  "  all  had  been  pleasant  as  a  mar 
riage  bell  ;"  the  weather  had  been  fine  ;  and  we  already  cal 
culated  our  days  of  arrival  at  different  points,  as  if  the  calm 
was  to  last  for  ever.  The  Cheviot  Hills  glittered  in  the 
west ;  it  was  the  kind  good-bye  of  our  own  dear  England. 
Hundreds  of  wJiite  sails  dotted  a  summer  sea :  all  was  joyous 
and  sparkling.  Scotland  greeted  us  with  a  rough  ;'  nor'- 
wester," — and  away  we  went.  "  Not  all  the  king's  horses" 
could  have  kept  the  expedition  together. 

The  "  Resolute"  and  "  Assistance,"  hauled  dead  on  a 
wind,  under  close-reefed  topsails,  performed  a  stationary 
movement,  called  "pile-driving"  by  sailors,  which,  as  the 
pilot  suggested,  would,  if  the  breeze  lasted,  carry  them  to 
the  coast  of  Holland.  The  two  steam  vessels,  under  fore- 
and-aft  canvas,  drew  away  rapidly  to  windward  and  ahead, 
and  in  spite  of  all  we  could  do,  a  few  hours  of  darkness 
effectually  succeeded  in  dispersing  us.  Accident  again 
brought  the  "  Pioneer"  in  sight  of  the  vessels  for  a  few 
hours ;  but  the  "  Intrepid"  found  herself  in  Stromness  Har- 


DEPARTURE.  13 

bour,  with  a  degree  of  celerity  which  gave  rise  to  a  racing 
disposition  on  the  part  of  my  gallant  colleague,  "  Intrepid," 
versus  "Pioneer,"  which  it  took  a  great  many  days  of  com 
petition  to  decide. 

They  who  want  excitement  had  better  go  and  beat  a  ves 
sel  up  the  Pentland  Firth,  against  both  wind  and  tide.  I 
tried  it,  but  shall  not  repeat  the  experiment ;  and,  after  a 
thorough  good  shaking  in  the  North  Sea,  was  not  sorry  to 
find  myself  at  anchor  in  Stromness. 

The  very  proper  and  triste  Sabbath  of  the  North  was 
followed  by  a  busy  Monday.  The  arrival  of  so  many  gold 
cap-bands,  and  profusion  of  gilt  buttons,  interfered.  I  fear 
materially,  with  the  proper  delivery  of  the  morning  milk 
and  butter  by  sundry  maidens  with  golden  locks  ;  and  the 
purser's  wholesale  order  for  beef  threatened  to  create  a  fam 
ine  in  the  Orkneys.  The  cheapness  of  whiskey  appeared 
likely  to  be  the  cause  of  our  going  to  sea  with  a  crew  in  a 
lamentable  state  of  drunkenness,  and  rather  prejudiced  me 
against  Stromness  ;  but  if  it  had  no  other  redeeming  quality, 
all  its  faults  would  be  forgotten  in  the  astounding  fact  that 
there  may  be  found  a  landlady  with  moderate  prices  and 
really  fresh  eggs. 

As  a  description  of  this  part  of  the  world  is  no  part  of 
my  task,  I  will  pass  over  our  long  and  crooked  walk  about 
Stromness ;  and  the  failure  of  the  good  folk  there  to  induce 
us  to  trust  ourselves  on  their  ponies  for  a  ride  to  Kirkwall, 
naturally  limited  our  knowledge  of  the  neighbourhood. 

Above  the  town  of  Stromness  rises  a  conical-shaped  hill ; 
it  has,  I  believe,  been  immortalized  by  Scott  in  his  "Pirate  :" 
it  had  yet  deeper  interest  for  me,  for  I  was  told  that  up  it  had 
toiled  dear  friends  now  missing  with  Franklin.  I  and  a  kind 
shipmate  walked  out  one  evening  to  make  our  pilgrimage  to 
a  spot  hallowed  by  the  visit  of  the  gallant  and  true-hearted 


14  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

that  had  gone  before  us — and,  as  amid  wind  and  drizzle  we 
scrambled  up  the  hill,  I  pictured  to  myself  how,  five  short 
years  before,  those  we  were  now  in  search  of  had  done  the 
same.  Good  and  gallant  Gore  !  chivalrous  Fitz-James  !  en 
terprising  Fairholme  !  lion-hearted  Hodgson  !  dear  De  Vaux ! 
— Oh  !  that  ye  knew  help  was  nigh  ! 

We  surmounted  the  hill — the  Atlantic  was  before  us, 
fierce  and  troubled ;  afar  to  seaward  the  breakers  broke  and 
lashed  themselves  against  the  firm  foundation  of  the  old  Head 
of  Hay,  which  loomed  through  mist  and  squall,  whilst  over 
head  the  scream  of  sea-fowl,  flying  for  shelter,  told  that  the 
west  wind  would  hold  wild  revelry  that  night. 

"  H.  M.  S.  North  Star,"  carved  on  the  turf,  showed  where 
some  of  her  people  had  chosen  this  spot  for  a  record  of  their 
visit  to  Orkney ;  we  did  likewise,  in  honour  of  our  own  bon- 
nie  craft ;  and  then,  strolling  homeward,  discussed  the  proba 
ble  chances  of  the  existence  of  the  said  "  North  Star ;"  the 
conclusion  arrived  at  being  that  there  was  more  cause  for 
anxiety  on  her  account  than  for  Franklin's  Expedition,  she 
having  gone  out  totally  unprepared  for  wintering,  and  with 
strict  injunctions  not  to  be  detained:  "1'homme  propose,  et 
Dieu  dispose." 

I  could  have  hugged  the  snuffy  old  postmaster  for  a  packet 
of  letters  he  gave  me.  I  rushed  on  board  to  a  cabin  which 
proved,  as  the  First  Lord  had  sagaciously  remarked,  into 
how  small  a  space  a  Lieutenant  Commanding  could  be 
packed  ;  and,  in  spite  of  an  unpaid  tailor's  bill,  revelled  in 
sweet  and  pleasant  dreams. 

The  "  Intrepid"  and  "  Pioneer"  rejoined  the  ships  at  Long- 
Hope  ;  and  my  gallant  comrade  and  I  made  a  neck-and-neck 
race  of  it,  showing  that  in  steaming,  at  any  rate,  there  would 
be  little  to  choose  between  us  ;  and,  on  May  15th,  the  Arctic 
squadron  weighed,  and,  passing  out  of  the  Pentland  Firth,  the 


PLAN  OF  SEARCH.  15 

"  Dasher"  and  "  Lightning"  cheered  us,  took  our  letters, — 
and  the  Searching  Expedition  was  alone  steering  for  Green 
land.  Night  threw  her  mantle  around  us ;  the  lonely  light 
of  Cape  Wrath  alone  indicating  where  lay  our  homes.  I  like 
losing  sight  of  Old  England  by  night.  It  is  pleasant  to  go  to 
rest  with  a  sweet  recollection  of  some  quiet  scene  you  have 
just  dwelt  upon  with  delight,  the  spirit  yearning  for  the  ex 
citement  and  novelty  ahead.  You  rise  in  the  morning,  old 
Ocean  is  around  you :  there  is,  to  the  seamen,  a  lullaby,  say 
what  they  may,  in  his  hoarse  song  ;  and  they  of  the  middle 
watch  tell  how  the  friendly  light  of  some  distant  cape  glim 
mered  and  danced  in  the  east,  until  lost  in  some  passing 
squall. 

Now  for  the  Northwest !  we  exclaimed, — its  much  talked 
of  dangers, — its  chapter  of  horrors  !  As  gallant  Frobisher 
says,  "  it  is  still  the  only  thing  left  undone,  whereby  a  notable 
mind  might  be  made  famous  and  remarkable."  As  it  was 
in  Frobisher's  day,  so  it  is  now,  unless  Franklin  has  accom 
plished  it,  and  lies  beset  off  Cape  Jakan — and  why  may  it 
not  be  so? 

Whilst  the  squadron  progresses  slowly  towards  Cape 
Farewell,  the  ships  under  topsails,  and  the  steamers  under 
jury-masts  and  sails,  we  will  take  a  retrospective  view  of 
what  is  now — 1850 — going  to  be  done  for  the  relief  of 
Franklin. 

Capt.  Collinson,  with  two  ships,  has  gone  to  Behring's 
Straits  with  the  "Plover"  as  a  depot,  in  Kotzebue  Sound, 
to  fall  back  upon  in  case  of  disaster.  He  steers  direct  for 
Melville  Island,  along  the  coast  of  North  America.  Capt. 
Pullen,  having  successfully  searched  the  coast  from  Point 
Barrow  to  the  Mackenzie  River,  is  endeavouring  now  to  push 
from  thence,  in  a  northerly  direction,  for  Bank's  Land.  Dr. 
Rae  is  to  do  the  same  from  the  Coppermine  River.  Capt. 


16  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Penny,  a  first-rate  whaling  captain,  with  two  fast  brigs,  is 
now  ahead  of  us,  hoping  to  make  an  early  passage  across  the 
middle  ice  of  Baffin's  Bay.  He  goes  to  Jones's  Sound  and 
Wellington  Channel,  to  reach  the  Parry  Isles  by  a  northern 
route. 

We  go  with  two  sailing  ships  and  two  steam  vessels,  so 
as  to  form  separate  divisions  of  two  vessels  each,  to  examine 
Barrow's  Straits  south-westerly  to  Cape  Walker,  westerly 
towards  Melville  Island,  and  north-westerly  up  Wellington 
Channel.  Thus  no  less  than  eight  fine  ships  flying  the  pen 
dant,  and  two  land  parties  are  directed,  by  different  routes, 
on  Melville  Island.  Besides  these,  an  American  expedition, 
fitted  out  by  that  prince  of  merchants,  Mr.  Grinnell,  leaves 
shortly  for  the  same  destination ;  and  in  Lady  Franklin's  own 
vessel,  the  "  Prince  Albert,"  as  well  as  a  craft  under  Sir  John 
Ross,  we  find  two  more  assistants  in  the  plan  of  search. 

And  yet,  gentle  reader,  if  you  turn  to  the  papers  of  the 
fall  of  1849,  you  will  find  some  asserting  that  Sir  John 
Franklin  had  perished  in  Baffin's  Bay,  because  Sir  James 
Ross  had  found  nothing  of  him  in  Lancaster  Sound  !  Happi 
ly  the  majority  of  Englishmen  have,  however,  decided  other 
wise  ;  and  behold,  this  noble  equipment !  this  magnificent 
outlay  of  men  and  material ! 

We  will  not  dwell  on  the  pleasures  or  annoyances  of  the 
cruise  across  the  Atlantic,  beyond  stating  the  fact  that  our 
blufT-bowed  worse-halfs,  the  sailing  ships,  nigh  broke  our 
hearts,  as  well  as  our  hawsers,  in  dragging  their  breakwater 
frames  along  in  the  calms ;  and  that  we  of  the  screws  found 
our  steam  vessels  all  we  could  wish,  somewhat  o'er  lively, 
mayhap, — a  frisky  tendency  to  break  every  breakable  article 
on  board.  But  there  was  a  saucy  swagger  in  them,  as  they 
bowled  along  the  hollow  of  a  western  sea,  which  showed  they 
had  good  blood  in  them;  and  we  soon  felt  confident  of  disap- 


THE  ATLANTIC.— GREENLAND.  17 

pointing  those  Polar  seers,  who  had  foretold  shipwreck  and 
disaster  as  their  fate. 

The  appearance  of  numerous  sea-birds, — the  Tern  espe 
cially,  which  do  not  fly  far  from  land, — warned  us,  on  Sun 
day  26th  May,  of  our  fast  approach  to  Greenland,  and  on  the 
the  morrow  we  espied  the  picturesque  shores  about  Cape 
Farewell.  Which  of  all  the  numerous  headlands  we  saw  was 
the  identical  cape,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  ;  but  we  chose,  as 
our  Cape  Farewell,  a  remarkable-looking  peak,  with  a  mass 
of  rock  perched  like  a  pillar  upon  its  crest.  The  temperature 
began  to  fall  as  we  advanced,  and  warmer  coats  quickly  re 
placed  our  English  clothing. 

Distant  as  we  were  from  Greenland,  our  view  of  its 
southern  extremity  was  fleeting,  but  sufficient  to  show  that  it 
fully  realized  in  appearance  the  most  striking  accumulation 
of  ice  and  land  that  the  mind  could  picture, — a  land  of  gaunt 
famine  and  misery ;  but  which  nevertheless,  for  some  good 
purpose,  it  had  pleased  Providence  in  a  measure  to  people. 

Had  we  not  had  an  urgent  duty  to  perform,  I  should  have 
regretted  thus  hurrying  past  the  land;  for  there  is  much  to 
see  there.  True,  Greenland  has  no  deep  historical  interest, 
but  the  North  has  always  had  its  charm  for  me.  Scandi 
navia,  and  her  deeds, — the  skill  and  intrepidity  of  her  bold 
Vikings, — their  colonies  in  Snoeland,  our  Iceland, — their  dis 
covery  of  Greenland, — and  the  legend  of  the  pirate  Biarni, 
who  forestalled  even  the  great  Columbus  in  his  discovery, — 
were  all  associated  with  the  region  through  which  we  were 
now  sailing. 

Without  compass,  without  chart,  full  three  centuries  be 
fore  the  Genoese  crossed  the  Atlantic,  the  Norsemen,  in  frail 
and  open  barks,  braved  the  dark  and  angry  sea  (which  was  so 
sorely  tossing  even  our  proud  vessels) ;  and,  unchecked  by 
tempest,  by  ice,  or  hardship,  penetrated  probably  as  far  as 


18  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

we  could  in  the  present  day.  This,  and  much  more,  throws 
a  halo  of  ancient  renown  around  this  lonely  land ;  moreover, 
I  had  long  loved  Nature's  handiworks,  and  here  assuredly  her 
wonders  reward  the  traveller.  Here,  methought  me  of  the 
mighty  glacier,  creeping  on  like  Time,  silently,  yet  cease 
lessly  ;  the  deep  and  picturesque  fiord  pent  up  between  preci 
pices,  huge,  bleak,  and  barren ;  the  iceberg !  alone  a  miracle  ; 
then  the  great  central  desert  of  black  lava  and  glittering  ice, 
gloomy  and  unknown  but  to  the  fleet  rein-deer,  who  seeks 
for  shelter  in  a  region  at  whose  horrors  the  hardy  natives 
tremble ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  ruins  of  the  Scandi 
navian  inhabitants,  and  the  present  fast  disappearing  race  of 
"  the  Innuit,"  or  Esquimaux.  Dullard  must  he  be  who  sees 
not  abundance  here  to  interest  him. 

Flirting  with  the  first  ice  we  saw,  it  soon  appeared  that 
the  training  of  the  uninitiated,  like  puppies,  was  to  be  a  very 
formal  and  lengthy  piece  of  business.  Thanks  to  an  immense 
deal  of  water,  and  very  little  ice,  the  steamers  eventually 
towed  the  "Resolute"  and  the  transport  (a  lively  specimen 
of  the  genus),  into  the  Whale-Fish  Islands, — a  group  of  rocky 
islets,  some  twenty  miles  distant  from  the  excellent  Danish 
harbour  of  Godhaab  on  the  Island  of  Disco. 

We  did  as  our  forefathers  in  anchoring  at  the  Whale 
Fish  Islands,  but  would  strongly  recommend  those  who 
visit  this  neighborhood  to  go  to  Godhaab  rather.  Its  an 
chorage  is  good,  communication  with  Europe  a  certainty, 
and  the  hospitality  of  the  Danish  residents,  few  though  they 
be,  cheering  and  pleasant  to  ship-sick  wanderers. 

Having  thus  expressed  my  total  dissent  from  those  who, 
with  steam  vessels,  go  to  Whale-Fish  Isles,  it  will  be  but 
fair  for  me  to  stay,  that  I  arrived  at  this  our  first  stage  in  the 
journey  to  the  Nor'- West,  in  far  from  good  humour.  We 
had  been  twenty-four  days  from  Greenhithe  to  Cape  Fare- 


WHALE-FISH  ISLANDS.  19 

well,  and  sixteen  days  from  the  latter  point  to  our  anchor 
age  ;  hurry  being  out  of  the  question  when  a  thing  like  the 
"Emma  Eugenia"  was  pounding  the  water  in  a  trial  of  speed 
with  perfect  snuff-boxes,  like  the  "Resolute"  and  "Assist 
ance."  Patience  and  a  four-day  tow  had  at  last  finished  the 
work :  and  to  all  our  anxious  inquiries  about  the  prospect 
of  the  season,  as  to  where  Penny  was,  and  whether  any 
intelligence  had  reached  the  settlements  ?  not  an  answer  was 
to  be  obtained  from  a  besotted  Danish  carpenter,  whose 
knowledge  appeared  to  be  limited  to  a  keen  idea  of  chang 
ing,  under  a  system  he  called  "Trock,"  sundries  (with  which 
the  Danske  Koeing  had  intrusted  him)  into  blubber  and  seal- 
oil. 

After  a  day  of  coal-dust,  I  landed  with  some  others  to  see 
what  was  to  be  seen,  and  to  load,  as  we  were  taught  to 
believe,  a  boat  with  wild  fowl.  The  principal  settlement 
having  been  pointed  out,  we  landed  on  the  slope  of  one 
of  the  islands,  on  which  a  coarse  rank  vegetation  existed 
amongst  the  numerous  relics  of  departed  seals,  sacrificed  to 
the  appetites  of  the  Esquimaux  and  the  tracking  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  as  he  was  facetiously  styled.  The  said  individual  soon 
appeared,  and  in  spite  of  copious  libations  of  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  "  Pure  Jamaica,"  of  which  he  had  partaken,  was 
most  polite  and  hospitable.  From  him  I  discovered  that  he 
and  a  cooper  were  the  only  Danes  residing"  here,  and  they, 
together  with  a  cross-breed  who  did  the  double  duty  of  priest 
and  schoolmaster,  constituted  the  officials  of  Cron-Prin's 
Islands.  The  native  population  amounted  perhaps  to  one 
hundred  souls :  and  it  was  in  supplying  their  wants,  and  in 
affording  a  market  for  their  superfluous  skins  and  blubber, 
that  the  Danes  derived  a  profit,  under  a  strict  system  of 
monopoly ;  no  foreigners  being  allowed  to  trade  with  the 
Esquimaux,  and  they,  on  the  other  hand,  having  strict  in- 


20  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

junctions  to  lodge  every  thing  they  do  not  require  for  private 
use,  in  the  public  store.  The  quantity  of  seal- blubber  in 
store,  which  was  equal  to  as  much  oil,  amounted  to  nigh 
upon  100  tons;  the  number  of  seals  annually  destroyed 
must  be  enormous :  this  says  much  for  the  industry  of  the 
natives. 

The  Esquimaux  appeared  all  comfortable  and  well  to  do, 
well  clad,  cleanly,  and  fat.  Most  of  them  had  moved  for  a 
while  into  their  summer  lodges,  which  consist  of  little  else 
than  a  seal-skin  tent,  clumsily  supported  with  sticks.  They 
were  more  than  sufficiently  warm  ;  and  the  number  of  souls 
inhabiting  one  of  these  lodges  appeared  only  to  be  limited  by 
the  circle  of  friends  and  connections  forming  a  family.  The 
winter  abode — -formed  almost  underground — appeared  deci 
dedly  well  adapted  to  afford  warmth,  and  some  degree  of  pure 
ventilation,  in  so  severe  a  climate,  where  fuel  can  be  spared 
only  for  culinary  purposes ;  and  I  was  glad  to  see  that,  al 
though  necessity  obliges  the  Esquimaux  to  eat  of  the  oil  and 
flesh  of  the  seal  and  naorwhal,  yet,  when  they  could  procure  it, 
they  seemed  fully  alive  to  the  gastronomic  pleasures  of  a 
good  wholesome  meal  off  fish,  birds'  eggs,  bread,  sugar,  tea, 
and  coffee. 

Their  canoes  are  perfect  models  of  beauty  and  lightness  ; 
in  no  part  of  the  world  do  we  see  them  excelled  in  speed  and 
portability — two  very  important  qualities  in  the  craft  of  a 
savage ;  and  in  ornamental  workmanship,  the  skill  of  both 
men  and  women  is  tastefully  displayed. 

The  clothing  of  the  natives  is  vastly  superior  to  any  thing 
we  could  produce,  both  in  lightness  of  material,  and  wind  and 
water-tight  qualities; — the  material,  seal  and  deer  skin,  and 
entrails,  manufactured  by  the  women ;  their  needles  of 
Danish  manufacture  ;  their  thread,  the  delicate  sinews  of 


THE  ESQUIMAUX.  21 

animals.  We  gladly  purchased  all  we  could  obtain  of  their 
clothing. 

Every  one  has  heard  of  the  horrors  of  an  Esquimaux 
existence, — sucking  blubber  instead  of  roast  beef,  train-oil 
heir  usual  beverage,  and  a  seal  their  bonne-bouche ;  the 
long  gloomy  winter  spent  in  pestiferous  hovels,  lighted  and 
warmed  with  whale-oil  lamps ;  the  narrow  gallery  for  an  en 
trance,  along  which  the  occupant  creeps  for  ingress  and  egress. 
This  and  much  more  has  been  told  us ;  yet,  now  that  I  have 
seen  it  all, — the  Esquimaux's  home,  the  Esquimaux's  mode 
of  living,  and  the  Esquimaux  himself, — I  see  nothing  so  hor 
rible  in  one  or  the  other. 

The  whaler,  from  bonnie  Scotia,  or  busy  Hull,  fresh  from 
the  recollection  of  his  land  and  home,  no  doubt  shudders  at 
the  comparative  misery  and  barbarity  of  these  poor  people  ; 
but  those  who  have  seen  the  degraded  Bushmen  or  Hotten 
tots  of  South  Africa,  the  miserable  Patanies  of  Malay ia,  the 
Fuegians  or  Australians  of  our  southern  hemisphere,  and 
remember  the  comparative  blessings  afforded  by  nature  to 
those  melancholy  specimens  of  the  human  family,  will,  I 
think,  exclaim  with  me,  that  the  Esquimaux  of  Greenland 
are  as  superior  to  them  in  mental  capacity,  manual  dexterity, 
physical  enterprise,  and  social  virtues,  as  the  Englishman  is 
to  the  Esquimaux. 

The  strongest — indeed,  I  am  assured,  the  only — symptom 
of  the  advantage  of  religious  instruction  perceptible  in  the 
Greenlander,  over  his  North  American  brethren,  is  in  the 
respect  they  show  for  the  marriage  tie,  and  strong  affection 
for  their  children.  The  missionary,  with  this  race,  appears  to 
have  few  difficulties  to  contend  with :  naturally  gentle,  and 
without  any  strong  superstitious  prejudices,  they  receive 
without  resistance  the  simple  creed  of  Reformed  religion, 
which  he  has  spread  amongst  them  ;  and  the  poor  Esquimaux 


22  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

child  sends  up  its  prayers  and  thanksgiving,  in  the  words 
taught  us  by  our  Saviour,  as  earnestly  and  confidently  as  the 
educated  offspring  of  Englishmen. 

An  old  man,  whom  I  pressed  to  accompany  me  as  pilot  to 
the  Island  of  Disco,  declined,  under  the  plea  that  his  wife  was 
very  ill,  and  that  there  was  no  one  but  himself  to  take  care 
of  the  "  piccaninny."  Interested  from  such  proper  feeling  in 

the  man,  Dr.  P and  I  entered  his  winter  abode,  which  he 

apologized  for  taking  us  to, — the  illness  of  his  "  cara  sposa" 
having  prevented  him  changing  his  residence  for  the  usual 
summer  tent.  Crawling  on  all  fours  through  a  narrow  pas 
sage,  on  either  side  of  which  a  dog-kennel  and  a  cook-house 
had  been  constructed,  we  found  ourselves  in  an  apartment, 
the  highest  side  of  which  faced  us,  the  roof  gradually  sloping 
down  to  the  ground. 


A  B.  Gallery.  E.  Bed  and  seats. 

B  c.  Section  of  house.  H.  Cook-house  and  kennel. 

The  above  section  will  give  some  idea  of  the  place. 
Along  one  side  of  the  abode  a  sort  of  bed-place  extended  for 
its  whole  length,  forming  evidently  the  family  couch ;  for 
on  one  end  of  it,  with  her  head  close  to  a  large  seal-oil  lamp. 
was  the  sick  woman.  She  was  at  the  usual  Esquimaux  fe 
male's  employment  of  feeding  the  flame  with  a  little  stick 
from  a  supply  of  oil,  which  would  not  rise  of  its  own  accord 
up  the  coarse  and  ill-constructed  wick  ;  over  the  flame  was  a 


THE  ESQUIMAUX.  23 

compound,  which  the  sufferer  told  us  was  medicine  for  her 
complaint, — the  rheumatism,  a  very  prevalent  one  amongst 
these  people.  Leaving  the  kind  Doctor  to  do  the  part  of  a 
good  Samaritan,  I  amused  myself  with  looking  over  the 
strange  home  into  which  I  had  got.  The  man  took  much 
pride  in  showing  me  his  family, — consisting  of  a  girl  and 
three  fine  boys.  His  wife,  he  assured  me,  was  only  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age  :  she  looked  at  least  six-and-thirty  ;  and 
he  likewise,  though  only  thirty-four,  had  the  appearance  of 
being  at  least  ten  years  older.  They  had  married  when  she 
was  twenty, — the  usual  age  for  marriage,  as  he  told  me.  His 
daughter,  rather  a  pretty  and  slight-made  girl,  was  very  busy 
making  shoes  for  her  brothers  out  of  cured  skin.  I  rewarded 
the  youthful  sempstress  by  giving  her  one  of  a  number  of 
dolls  kindly  sent  me  for  the  purpose  by  Mrs.  W.  of  Wool 
wich  ;  and  could  that  kind  friend  have  seen  the  joyful  counte 
nance  of  the  Esquimaux  child,  she  would  indeed  have  been 
richly  remunerated  for  her  thoughtful  little  addition  to  my 
stock  of  presents.  To  finish  my  Esquimaux  tale,  I  was  next 
day  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  father  coming  on  board, 
and  giving  me  a  small  pouch  which  his  child  had  sewn  for 
me  in  return  for  my  present.  This  proved  at  least  that 
Esquimaux  children  can  appreciate  kindness  as  well  as 
others. 

The  Whale-Fish  group  consist  of  a  congery  of  islets,  of 
various  shapes  and  sizes,  with  deep  water  channels  between  ; 
the  whole  of  granitic  formation,  with  broad  veins  of  quartz 
and  masses  of  gneiss  overlaying  in  various  directions.  Those 
I  visited  exhibited  proof  of  constant  and,  I  might  say,  rapid 
destruction  from  the  action  of  water  and  frost.  The  southern 
and  south-west  sides  of  the  larger  islands  were  of,  may  be,  300 
or  400  feet  elevation,  with  a  gradual  dip  to  the  north-east,  as 
if  their  creation  had  been  brought  about  by  some  submarine 


24  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

agency  upheaving  the  primary  rock,  with  an  irregular  force 
from  the  north-east. 

The  tallest  cliffs  were  rent  from  crown  to  base,  and  frost- 
cracks  intersected  one  another  in  such  a  perfect  labyrinth, 
that  the  whole  mass  appeared  as  if  merely  hanging  together 
from  its  stupendous  weight.  The  narrow  bays  and  bights 
with  a  southern  aspect,  where  the  concussion  of  a  heavy  sea 
had  had  its  effect,  were  strewn  with  the  wreck  of  the  adja 
cent  precipices,  and  progress  for  sportsmen  along  the  shore, 
in  pursuit  of  wild  fowl,  was  extremely  difficult.  On  the 
northern  sides,  these  islands  showed  other  features  quite  as 
peculiar  to  the  glacial  region  upon  which  we  were  wandering: 
there  the  low  projecting  ledges  of  granite  were  polished  by 
the  constant  attrition  of  oceanic  ice  and  icebergs,  until  walk 
ing  over  them  became  barely  possible. 

June  18th,  1850. — I  am  much  amused  at  the  ease  with 
which  we  assimilate  ourselves  to  new  climates  and  new 

habits.  Yesterday,  my  friend  Dr.  P and  I  bathed 

within  fifty  yards  of  an  iceberg,  the  water  only  two  degrees 
above  freezing  point ;  candour  must  acknowledge  that  we  did 
not  stay  long ;  and  to-night,  though  no  Highlander  in  love  of 
hardship,  I  found  myself  at  midnight  in  the  water  groping 
for  lost  gun-gear,  an  experiment  which,  having  escaped  from 
without  rheumatism,  I  promise  not  to  repeat.  One  of  my 
crew  slept  last  night  on  deck  with  his  arm  for  a  pillow, 
although  the  temperature  was  below  freezing  point,  and 
every  one  complains  of  heat  and  throws  aside  jacket  and  cap 
when  making  the  slightest  exertion. 

Coal-dust  every  where  and  on  every  thing.  Incessant 
work  from  4,  A.  M.,  to  8  or  9  o'clock,  p.  M.,  one  would  have 
supposed,  would  have  induced  rational  beings  to  go  quietly 
to  bed  when  the  day's  work  was  over.  It  was  far  otherwise. 


AN  ARCTIC  NIGHT.  25 

The  novelty  of  constant  daylight,  and  the  effect  which  it  always 
has  upon  the  system,  until  accustomed  to  it,  of  depriving 
one  of  the  inclination  to  go  to  roost  at  regular  hours,  told 
upon  us,  and  often  hare  I  found  myself  returning  from  five 
hours'  work,  chasing,  shooting,  and  pulling  a  boat,  just  as  the 
boatswain's  mates  were  piping  "  stow  hammocks  !"  That  I 
was  not  singular,  a  constant  discharge  of  guns  throughout  the 
night  well  proved,  and  unhappy  nights  must  the  ducks  and 
dovekies  have  spent  during  our  stay. 

Not  to  shoot  became,  in  the  Arctic  squadron,  tantamount 
to  folly,  although  the  proceeds  of  great  consumption  of  pow 
der  were  but  small ;  nevertheless,  stout  men,  who  had  not 
buttoned  a  gaiter  since  their  youth,  were  to  be  seen  rivalling 
chamois-hunters  in  the  activity  with  which  they  stalked  down 
the  lady  ducks  on  their  nests.  Apoplexy  was  forgotten,  the 
tender  wife's  last  injunction  on  the  subject  of  dry  feet  pitched 
to  the  winds,  and  rash  men  of  five-and-forty  pulled  and  shot 
little  birds,  in  leaky  punts,  with  all  the  energy  of  boys  of 
fifteen. 

Cold  fingers,  and  a  load  of  Flushing  cloth  on  one's  back, 
are  vile  realities;  otherwise  I  could  have  given  fancy  her 
swing,  and  ispent  many  an  hour  in  the  "  blest  ideal,"  at  the 
beautiful  and  novel  scene  which  lay  around  me  on  a  lovely 
morning  at  one  o'clock.  I  had  just  crossed  to  the  north  side 
of  an  island  which  faces  Greenland,  and  passed  a  quiet  and 
secluded  bay,  at  whose  head  the  remains  of  a  deserted  ruin 
told  of  the  by-gone  location  of  some  Esquimaux  fishermen, 
whose  present  home  was  shown  by  here  and  there  a  grave 
carefully  piled  over  with  stones  to  ward  off  dog  and  bear. 
All  was  silent,  except  the  plaintive  mew  of  the  Arctic  sea- 
swallow  as  it  wheeled  over  my  head,  or  the  gentle  echo  made 
by  mother  ocean  as  she  rippled  under  some  projecting  ledge 
of  ice.  The  snow,  as  it  melted  amongst  the  rocks  behind, 

2 


26  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

stole  quietly  on  to  the  sea  through  a  mass  of  dark-coloured 
moss ;  whilst  a  scanty  distribution  of  pale  or  delicately-tinted 
flowers  showed  the  humble  flora  of  the  north.  The  sun, 
sweeping  along  the  heavens  opposite,  at  a  very  low  altitude, 
gilded  as  it  rose  the  snowy  crests  of  the  mountains  of  Disco, 
and  served  to  show,  more  grim  and  picturesque,  the  naturally 
dark  face  of  the  "  Black  Land  of  Lively."  From  thence 
round  to  the  east,  in  the  far  horizon,  swept  the  shores  of  Green 
land,  its  glaciers,  peaks,  and  headlands,  all  tortured  by  mi 
rage  into  a  thousand  fantastic  shapes,  as  if  Dame  Nature 
had  risen  from  her  couch  in  frolicsome  mood.  Between  this 
scene  and  my  feet,  icebergs  of  every  size  and  shape,  rich  with 
fretting  of  silvery  icicle,  and  showing  the  deepest  azure  tint 
or  richest  emerald,  strewed  a  mirror-like  sea,  glowing  with 
the  pale  pink  of  morning. 

The  awful  silence  was  impressive :  unwilling  to  break  it  I 
sat  me  down. 

"  I  felt  her  presence  by  its  spell  of  might, 

Stoop  o'er  me  from  above — 
The  calm  majestic  presence  of  the  night, 
As  of  the  one  I  love." 

Suddenly  a  distant  roar  boomed  along  the  water  and  echoed 
amongst  the  rocks :  again  and  again  I  heard  it,  when,  to  my 
astonishment,  several  huge  icebergs  in  the  offing  commenced 
to  break  up.  A  fearful  plunge  of  some  large  mass  would 
clothe  the  spot  in  spray  and  foam  ;  a  dull  reverberating  echo 
pealed  on ;  and  then,  merely  from  the  concussion  of  the  still 
air,  piece  after  piece  detached  itself  from  icebergs  far  and 
near,  and  the  work  of  demolition  was  most  rapid  :  truly  did 
Baffin  boast,  that  he  had  laid  open  one  of  Nature's  most  won 
derful  laboratories;  and  I  thought  with  Longfellow,  in  his 
Hyperion, — 


GODHAAB.  27 

"  The  vast  cathedral  of  nature  is  full  of  holy  scriptures 
and  shapes  of  deep  mysterious  meaning:  all  is  solitary  and 
silent  there.  Into  this  vast  cathedral  comes  the  human  soul 
seeking  its  Creator,  and  the  universal  silence  is  changed  to 
sound,  and  the  sound  is  harmonious  and  has  a  meaning,  and 
is  comprehended  and  felt." 

After  many  difficulties,  which  called  for  some  obstinacy 
on  my  part  to  master,  I  was  allowed  to  go  to  Disco,  and 
Captain  Ommaney,  hearing  of  my  intention,  kindly  made  up 
a  party.  Taking  one  of  our  boats,  we  shipped  an  Esqui 
maux  pilot,  called  "  Frederick,"  and  started  on  June  21st,  at 
2  o'clock  in  the  morning.  To  all  our  inquiries  about  Disco, 
Frederick  had  but  one  reply, — "  by  and  by  you  see."  He 
liked  rum  and  biscuit,  and  was  only  to  be  animated  by  the 
conversation  turning  upon  seals,  or  poussies,  as  the  natives 
call  them.  Then  indeed  Frederick's  face  was  wreathed  in 
smiles,  or  rather  its  oleaginous  coat  of  dirt  cracked  in  divers 
directions,  his  tiny  eyes  twinkled,  and  he  descanted,  in  his 
broken  jargon,  upon  the  delight  of  poussey  with  far  more 
unction  than  an  alderman  would  upon  turtle.  After  thread 
ing  the  islets  we  struck  to  north-east  by  compass,  from  the 
northernmost  rock  of  the  group,  which  our  guide  assured  us 
would  sink  below  the  horizon  the  moment  of  our  arrival  off 
Godhaab.  lie  was  perfectly  right,  for  after  four  hours'  pull 
ing  and  sailing  we  found  ourselves  under  a  small  look-out 
house,  and  the  islets  of  our  departure  had  dipped. 

Entering  a  long  and  secure  harbour,  we  reached  a  perfectly 
landlocked  basin :  in  it  rode  a  couple  of  Danish  brigs,  just 
arrived  from  Copenhagen,  with  stores  for  the  settlement;  and 
on  the  shores  of  this  basin,  the  Danish  settlement  of  Godhaab 
was  situated,  a  few  stores,  and  the  residence  of  two  or  three 
officials, — gentlemen  who  superintended  the  commercial  mo- 


28  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

nopoly  to  which  I  have  before  referred :  a  flag-staff  and  some 
half-dozen  guns  formed  the  sum  total. 

Landing  at  a  narrow  wooden  quay,  close  to  which  natives 
and  sailors  were  busy  unladening  boats,  we  found  ourselves 
amongst  a  rambling  collection  of  wooden  houses,  built  in 
Dano-Esquimaux  style,  with  some  twenty  native  lodges 
intermixed.  Very  few  persons  were  to  be  seen  moving 
about :  we  heard  afterwards  that  the  body  of  natives  were 
seal-catching  to  the  northward.  A  troop  of  half-caste  boys 
and  girls  served,  however,  to  represent  the  population,  and 
in  them  the  odd  mixture  of  the  Mongolian  with  the  Scandina 
vian  race  was  advantageously  seen. 

A  Danish  seaman  conducted  Captain  O ,  Dr.  D , 

and  self,  to  the  residence  of  the  chief  official,  and,  at  the  early 
hour  of  six,  we  made  a  formal  visit. 

His  mansion  was  of  wood,  painted  black,  with  a  red  bor 
der  to  the  windows  and  roof:  no  doubt,  so  decorated  for  a 
good  purpose ;  but  the  effect  was  more  striking  than  pleasing. 
A  low  porch  with  double  doors,  two  sharp  turns  in  a  narrow 
dark  passage, — to  baffle  draughts,  no  doubt, — and  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  comfortable  room  with  Herr  Agar  smoking  a 
cigar,  and  gaily  attired  to  receive  us.  The  "  Herr"  spoke 
but  little  English ;  we  no  Danish  :  however,  the  quiet  and 
reserved  manner  of  the  good  northern  did  not  conceal  a  cer 
tain  kindness  of  which  he  soon  gave  us  hospitable  proof;  for, 
on  acceding  to  his  offer  of  a  little  coffee,  we  were  surprised  to 
see  a  nice  tidy  lady — his  wife,  as  he  informed  us — spread  a 
breakfast  fit  for  a  Viking,  and  then  with  gentle  grace  she  ably 
did  the  honours  of  her  board.  Hang  me,  when  1  looked  at 
the  snow-white  linen,  the  home-made  cleanly  cheer,  the  sweet 
wife  all  kindness  and  anxiety,  I  half  envied  the  worthy  Dane 
the  peace  and  contentment  of  his  secluded  lot,  and  it  needed 
not  a  glass  of  excellent  Copenhagen  schiedam  to  throw  a. 


HERE  AGAR.  29 

"  couleur  de  rose"  about  this  Ultima  Thule  of  dear  woman's 
dominion. 

The  morning  pull  had  given  a  keenness  to  our  appetites, 
and  I  have  a  general  recollection  of  rye  bread,  Danish  cake, 
excellent  Zetland  butter,  Dutch  cheese,  luscious  ham,  boiled 
potatoes,  and  Greenland  trout  fresh  from  the  stream.  Could 
sailors  ask  for  or  need  more'?  I  can  only  say  that  we  all  felt 
that,  if  Herr  Agar  and  Madame  Agar  (I  hate  that  horrid 
word  Frau)  would  only  borrow  our  last  shilling,  we  were 
ready  to  lend  it. 

A  broken  conversation  ensued,  a  little  English  and  much 

Danish,  when  Dr.  D fortunately  produced  Captain 

Washington's  Esquimaux  vocabulary,  and,  aided  by  the 
little  son  of  our  host,  we  soon  twisted  out  all  the  news  Herr 
Agar  had  to  give. 

Captain  Penny  had  only  stayed  a  short  time.  He  arrived 
on  May  the  4th.  The  prospect  of  an  early  season  was  most 
cheering,  and  then  the  worthy  Herr  produced  a  piece  of 
paper  directed  to  myself  by  my  gallant  friend  Penny.  He 
wrote  in  haste  to  say  his  squadron  had  arrived,  all  well,  after 
a  splendid  run  from  Aberdeen :  he  was  again  off,  and  sent 
kind  remembrances,  dated  May  4th. 

This,  at  any  rate,  was  joyful  intelligence,  and  worth  my 
journey  to  Disco ;  my  heart  leaped  with  joy,  and  I  thought, 
at  any  rate,  if  we  were  late,  he  was  full  early. 

After  a  long  chat,  we  went  for  a  stroll,  in  which  a  tree — 
yes  !  as  I  live,  a  tree — was  discovered.  Be  not  envious,  ye 
men  of  Orkney,  it  stood  full  thirteen  inches  high,  and  was 
indigenous,  being  the  dwarf  birch-tree,  the  monarch  of  an 
arctic  forest !  Stumbling  upon  the  churchyard  I  should  have 
indulged  my  taste  for  old  tombstones,  had  not  the  musquitoes 
forbidden  it ;  and,  with  a  hurried  glance  at  the  names  of  old 
hunters  of  fish  and  departed  Danes  and  Dutchmen,  I  ran  for 


30  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

the  beach,  remarking  that,  whereas  we  in  Europe  evince 
respect  for  those  who  have  preceded  us  to  that  bourne — 

"  Where  life's  long  journey  turns  to  sleep, 
Nor  weary  pilgrim  wakes  to  weep — " 

by  placing  stones  around  their  last  homes,  in  Greenland 
pieces  of  soft  and  ugly  wood  are  substituted,  although  nature 
has  strewn  on  every  side  masses  of  granite  fit  to  form  mauso 
leums  for  Pharaohs.  Bad  taste  !  I  exclaimed  ;  but  that's  not 
confined  to  Disco. 

Having  promised  to  return  to  say  good-bye,  we  kept  our 
word  most  willingly,  and  found  "Herr  Agar"  had  a  circle  of 
friends  to  meet  us ;  and  my  astonishment  was  great  at  the 
sight  of  two  more  petticoats.  One  was  the  wife  of  a  Moravian 
missionary,  and  the  other  the  wife  of  a  gentleman  at  Jacob's 
Sound.  They  looked  perfectly  happy,  and  at  least  appeared 
as  well  at  home  in  the  dreary  region  which  had  become  their 
adopted  country,  as  we  could  expect,  or  their  husbands  desire. 
Conversation  soon  flagged;  the  missionary  gave  it  up  in 
despair ;  the  "  Herr"  smoked  in  silence  ;  and  but  for  the 
ladies  we  should  have  been  soon  dumb.  Happily  for  me  (for 
I  wanted  to  purchase  some  seal-skins),  a  captain  of  one  of 
the  brigs  came  in  at  the  moment,  and,  understanding  both 
English  and  Danish,  conversation  became  quite  animated. 
Watching  my  opportunity,  I  told  him  of  my  desire  to  pur 
chase  seal-skins  for  trowsers  for  rny  men ;  he  immediately 
informed  Herr  Agar,  who  gave  him  a  yah !  and  walked  me 
off  by  the  arm  to  his  storerooms,  followed  by  his  good  lady ; 
lifting  a  bundle  of  beautiful  seal-skins,  the  Herr  made  me  an 
offer  of  them.  I  commenced  fumbling  for  my  purse,  and  at 
last  produced  some  gold,  making  signs  that  various  officers 
intended  to  have  seal-skin  trowsers.  Nay  !  nay  !  exclaimed 
the  good  lady,  thrusting  back  my  money,  whilst  the  Herr 


LEA  VE  DISCO.  81 

began  loading  me  with  skins.  Oh!  the  horror  of  that  mo 
ment  :  I  felt  as  if  I  had  been  begging,  and  must  have  looked 
very  like  it,  for  Mrs.  Agar,  with  a  look  of  sudden  inspiration, 
as  if  she  perfectly  understood  me,  ran  off  to  her  husband's 
wardrobe,  and  produced  a  pair  of  trowsers,  of  perfect  Dutch 
dimensions,  and,  with  the  most  innocent  smile,  made  signs 
of  how  I  should  pull  them  on.  I  smiled,  for  they  would  have 
made  a  suit  of  clothes  for  me. 

Seeing  no  way  of  getting  out  of  the  scrape  my  ignorance 
of  Danish  and  their  generosity  had  led  me  into,  I  determined 
to  take  as  little  as  possible,  and  with  a  thousand  thanks 
walked  back  to  the  drawing-room,  with  Herr  Agar's  "whis- 
perables"  on  one  arm  and  a  couple  of  seal-skins  on  the  other, 
my  face  burning,  and  my  conscience  smiting. 

Time  pressed,  and  we  bid  our  kind  friends  good-bye. 
Herr  Agar  fired  a  salute  of  three  guns,  which  we  returned 
with  three  cheers ;  and,  after  taking  a  stirrup  cup  on  board 
the  "Peru,"  started  for  Whale-Fish  Islands,  which  we 
reached  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  much  pleased  with  our 
excursion. 

Every  one  likes  a  souvenir  of  some  pleasant  by-gone 
scene  or  event :  these  souvenirs  are  often  odd  ones.  A 
messmate  of  mine  used  to  tell  of  Greece,  her  temples  and 
ruins :  "  he  had  had  many  a  pleasant  snooze  amongst  them !" 
Another  dwelt  on  the  scenes  of  Montezuma's  sorrows,  for  it 
was  there  he  had  partaken  of  most  savoury  wild  fowl, — and 
yet  another  hero  knew  but  of  Peru  and  Pizarro's  triumphs, 
by  the  markets  producing  very  good  prawns ;  whilst  I  must 
plead  guilty  to  associating  Greenland  and  the  deeds  of  Scan 
dinavian  heroes  with  Herr  Agar's  seal-skin  trowsers. 

Amidst  a  last  flourish  of  coals  and  dust,  which  left  us  filled 
to  repletion, — indeed  we  were  just  awash, — we  were  ordered 
to  take  the  ships  in  tow,  and  start.  This  being  done,  I  came 


32  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

to  a  virtuous  resolution  in  my  own  mind,  after  what  I  was 
going  through  in  dragging  my  "  fat  friend,"  the  "  Resolute," 
about,  to  think  twice  ere  I  laughed  at  those  whom  fate  had 
shackled  to  a  mountain  of  flesh.  When  I  had  time  to  ask 
the  day  and  date,  it  was  Sunday,  28th  June,  1850,  and  we 
had  turned  our  back  on  the  last  trace  of  civilized  man. 
Vogu  e-la-gal  ere. 

The  night  was  serenely  calm.  We  skirted  the  Black  Land 
of  Lively,  making  an  average  speed  of  three  miles  per  hour, 
so  that  our  fearful  load  of  coal — full  three  hundred  tons — 
did  not  diminish  the  speed  nearly  as  much  as  I  at  first  antici 
pated.  Although  I  could  not  but  feel  from  our  staggering 
motion  and  bad  steetage  that  the  poor  "  Pioneer"  was 
severely  taxed  in  carrying  her  own  dead  weight  of  about 
five  hundred  tons,  and  towing  a  clumsy  craft,  which  fully 
equalled  another  seven  hundred  tons,  all  this  receiving  vital 
ity  from  two  little  engines  of  thirty -horse  power  each. 

Whilst  a  sudden  and  rattling  breeze  from  the  south  caused 
us  to  make  sail  and  run  merrily  past  the  striking  clifts  of  the 
Waigat  and  Jacob's  Sound,  I  will  briefly  refer  to  the  character 
of  the  vessels  composing  our  squadron,  their  equipment,  and 
general  efficiency. 

The  "  Resolute"  and  "  Assistance"  were  sailing  ships 
rigged  as  barks;  their  hulls  strengthened  according  to  the 
most  orthodox  arctic  rules,  until,  instead  of  presenting  the 
appearances  of  a  body  intended  fur  progress  through  the 
water,  they  resembled  nothing  so  much  as  very  ungainly 
snuff-boxes;  and  their  bows  formed  a  buttress  which  rather 
pushed  the  water  before  it  than  passed  through  it.  The  re 
mark  made  by  an  old  seaman  who  had  grown  gray  amongst 
the  ice  was  often  recalled  to  my  mind,  as  with  an  aching 
heart  for  many  a  long  mile  I  dragged  the  clumsy  "  Resolute" 
about.  "Lord,  sir!  you  would  think  by  the  quantity  of 


THE  SHIPS.  33 

wood  they  are  putting  into  them  ships,  that  the  dock-yard 
maties  believed  they  could  stop  the  Almighty  from  moving 
the  floes  in  Baffin's  Bay  !  Every  pound  of  African  oak  they 
put  into  them  the  less  likely  they  are  to  rise  to  pressure ; 
and  you  must  in  the  ice  either  rise  or  sink.  If  the  floe  can 
not  pass  through  the  ship  it  will  go  over  it." 

Internally  the  fittings  of  the  ships  were  most  perfect: 
nothing  had  been  spared  to  render  them  the  most  comfort 
able  vessels  that  ever  went  out  avowedly  to  winter  in  the 
Polar  ice.  Hot  air  was  distributed  by  means  of  an  ingenious 
apparatus  throughout  lower  deck  and  cabins.  Double  bulk 
heads  and  doors  prevented  the  ingress  of  unnecessary  cold 
air.  A  cooking  battery,  as  the  French  say,  promised  abun 
dance  of  room  for  roasting,  boiling,  baking,  and  thawing  snow 
to  make  water  for  daily  consumption.  The  mess  places  of 
the  crew  were  neatly  fitted  in  man-of-war  style ;  and  the  well- 
laden  shelves  of  crockery  and  hardware  showed  that  Jack,  as 
well  as  jolly  marine,  had  spent  a  portion  of  his  money  in 
securing  his  comfort  in  the  long  voyage  before  them.  A  long 
tier  of  cabins  on  either  side  showed  how  large  a  proportion 
of  officers  these  vessels  carried ;  but  it  was  so  far  satisfactory, 
as  it  proved  that  the  division  of  labour,  consequent  upon 
numbers,  would  make  arctic  labours  comparatively  light. 

A  large  captain's  cabin,  with  a  gunroom  capable  of  con 
taining  all  the  officers  when  met  together  for  their  meals, 
completed  the  accommodation.  The  crews  consisted  of  sixty 
souls  each,  of  which  a  fourth  were  officers. 

The  vessels  chosen  to  be  the  first  to  carry  the  novel  agent, 
steam,  into  hyperborean  climes,  were  the  "Pioneer"  and 
"  Intrepid,"  sister  vessels,  belonging,  originally,  to  the  cattle 
conveyance  company  ;  they  were  propelled  by  screws,  and 
were  of  sixty-horse  power  each,  about  150  feet  long,  of  400 
tons  burden,  and  rigged  as  three-masted  schooners.  Over 

2* 


34  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

the  whole  of  their  original  frames,  tough   planking   called 
doubling   was  placed,  varying  from  three  to   six  inches  in 
thickness.     The  decks  were  likewise  doubled  ;  and,  as  may 
be  supposed,  from  such  numerous  fastenings  passing  through 
the  original  timbers  of  a  merchantman,  every  timber  was 
perforated  with  so  many  holes  as  to  be  weakened  and  ren 
dered  useless ;    indeed,  the  vessels  may  have  at  last  been 
considered  as  what  is  termed  "  bread-and-butter  built,"  the 
two  layers  of  planking  constituting  with  the  decks  the  actual 
strength  of  the  vessels.      At  the  bow,  the  fine  form  had  hap 
pily  been  retained,  the  timber  strengthenings  being  thrown 
into  them  at  that  point  within,  and  not  without ;  they  were, 
therefore,  at  the  fore  end   somewhat  like  a  strong  wedge. 
Many  an  oracle  had  shaken  his  head  at  this  novelty ;  and 
when  I  talked  of  cutting  and  breaking  ice  with  an  iron  stem, 
the  lip   curled  in  derision  and    pity,    and  I  saw  that  they 
thought  of  me  as  Joe  Stag,  the  Plymouth  boatman,  did  of  the 
Brazilian  frigate  when  she  ran  the  breakwater  down  in  a  fog, 
— "  Happy  beggar,  he  knows  nothing,  and  he  fears  nothing." 
A  few  catastrophe-lovers  in  England   having    consigned 
Franklin  to  death  because  he  had  steam-engines  and  screws, 
every  precaution  was  taken  to   secure  the  "Pioneer"  and 
"  Intrepid"  in  such  a  way  that  screw,  rudder,  and  sternpost 
might  be  torn  off  by  the  much-talked-of  bogie  ! — the  ice, — 
and  the  vessels  still  be  left  fit  to  swim.     In  the  internal 
arrangements   for   meeting   an  arctic  climate,  we  were   on 
somewhat   a   similar   plan  to   the   ships, — some   difficulties 
being  presented  by  the  large  mass  of  cold  iron  machinery, 
which,  of  course,  acted   as  a  rapid  refrigerator.      For  the 
foyage  out,  the  men  were  confined  to  a  little  place  in  the 
bows  of  the  vessel,  and  from  thence  to  the  cabins  of  the 
officers,  all  was  coal :    a  dead  weight  of  260  tons  being  origi 
nally  carried  from  England,  which  we  increased  to  300  tons  at 


THE  SCREWS.  35 

the  Whale  Islands.  This,  at  an  average  consumption  of  seven 
tons  per  diem,  would  enable  us  to  tow  the  ships  3000  miles, 
or,  steam  alone,  full  5000  miles,  carrying  twelve  or  eighteen 
months'  provision.  The  crew  consisted  of  thirty  souls,  all  told, 
of  which  five  were  officers, — namely,  a  lieutenant  in  command 
and  a  second  master,  as  executive  officers ;  an  assistant  sur 
geon,  who  zealously  undertook  the  superintendence  of  the 
commissariat,  both  public  and  private,  and  two  engineers,  to 
look  after  the  steam  department.  These  occupied  the  smallest 
conceivable  space  in  the  after-end  of  the  steamers ;  and,  with 
separate  cabins,  had  a  common  mess-place. 

Such  were  the  arctic  screws  :  it  only  remains  for  me  to 
say,  that  they  were  very  handsome,  smart-sailing  vessels,  and 
those  embarked  in  them  partook  of  none  of  the  anxieties  and 
croakings,  which  declared  opponents  and  doubtful  allies 
entertained  as  to  their  success  in  what  was  styled  a  great 
experiment.  They  had  but  one  wish  ungratified,  which  was, 
that  they  had  been  sent  alone  and  fully  provisioned,  instead 
of  carrying  an  inadequate  proportion  of  food,  so  that,  in  the 
event  of  being  separated  from  the  ships  by  accident,  they 
might  have  wintered  without  suffering  and  hardship. 

All  the  crews  had  been  carefully  chosen  for  health  and 
efficiency  ;  and  they,  as  well  as  the  officers,  were  actuated  by 
the  loftiest  feelings  of  enterprise  and  humanity;  and  that 
feeling  was  fostered  and  strengthened  by  the  knowledge  they 
had,  of  the  high  confidence  placed  in  the  squadron  by  their 
country,  speaking  through  the  press.  In  fact,  we  were 
called  heroes  long  before  we  had  earned  our  laurels. 
Lastly,  the  Admiralty  put  into  the  hands  of  the  officers 
the  orders  they  had  given  the  leader  of  this  noble  squadron ; 
and  there  was  but  one  opinion  as  to  these  orders,  that  more 
liberal,  discretionary  ones  never  were  penned! — and  with 
such  power  to  act  as  circumstances  might  render  necessary, 


36  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

we  felt  confident  of  deserving,  if  we  could  not  demand, 
success. 

June  24^/i,  Baffiii's  Bay. — The  squadron  was  flying  north, 
in  an  open  sea,  over  which  bergs  of  every  size  and  shape 
floated  in  wild  magnificence.  The  excitement,  as  we  dashed 
through  the  storm,  in  steering  clear  of  them,  was  delight 
ful  from  its  novelty.  Hard  a  starboard  !  Steady  !  Port ! 
Port!  you  may! — and  we  flew  past  some  huge  mass, 
over  which  the  green  seas  were  fruitlessly  trying  to  dash 
themselves.  Coleridge  describes  the  scene  around  us  too 
well  for  me  to  degrade  it  with  my  prose.  I  will  give  his 
version : — 

"  And  now  there  came  both  mist  and  snow, 
And  it  grew  wondrous  cold, 
And  ice,  mast  high,  came  floating  by 
As  green  as  emerald. 
Through  the  drifts,  the  snowy  clifts 
Did  send  a  dismal  sheen  ; 
Nor  shapes  of  men,  or  beasts  we  ken, 
The  ice  was  all  between. 
With  sloping  masts,  and  dipping  prow, 
As  who  pursued  with  yell  and  blow, 
Still  treads  the  shadow  of  his  foe, 
And  forward  bends  his  head. 
The  ship  drove  fast — loud  roared  the  blast, 
And  northward  aye  we  fled — 

Until  we  all  suddenly  hauled-in  for  the  land  of  Greenland,  in 
order  to  visit  the  settlement  of  Uppernavik.  Passing  into  a 
channel,  some  four  miles  in  width,  we  found  ourselves  run 
ning  past  the  remarkable  and  lofty  cliffs  of  "Sanderson  his 
Hope,"  a  quaint  name  given  to  this  point  by  the  u  righte 
worthie  Master  Davis,"  in  honour  of  his  patron,  a  merchant 
of  Bristol.  Well  worthy  was  it  of  one  whose  liberality  had 


UPPERNAVIK.  37 

tended  to  increase  our  geographical  knowledge;  and  the 
Hope's  lofty  crest  pierced  through  the  clouds  which  drove 
athwart  its  breast,  and  looked  afar  to  see  "  whether  the  Lord 
of  the  Earth  came  not." 

Under  its  lee,  the  water  was  a  sheet  of  foam  and  spray,  from 
the  fierce  gusts  which  swept  down  ravine  and  over  headland  ; 
and  against  the  base  of  the  rocks,  flights  of  wild  fowl  marked 
a  spot  famous  amongst  arctic  voyagers  as  abounding  in  fresh 
food, — a  charming  variety  to  salt  horse  and  Hambro'  pork. 

On  rounding  an  inner  islet  of  the  Women's  Group,  as  it 
is  called,  a  straggling  assemblage  of  Esquimaux  huts,  with  a 
black  and  red  storehouse  or  two.  as  at  Disco,  denoted  the 
northernmost  of  the  present  Danish  settlements,  as  well  as 
the  site  of  an  ancient  Scandinavian  port, — a  fact  assured  by 
the  recent  discovery  of  a  stone  pillar  on  one  of  the  adjacent 
islands  bearing  the  following  inscription  : — 

"  Elling  Sigvatson,  Bjame  Thordason,  and  Endride  Oddson, 
erected  these  memorial  stones  and  cleared  this  place  on  Saturday 
before  Gagndag  (25th  April),  in  the  year  1135." 

Exactly  four  hundred  and  fifty-two  years  before  the  place 
was  rediscovered  by  our  countryman,  Davis. 

The  "  Intrepid"  having  the  honour  of  carry ing-in  the  two 
post-captains,  we  box-hauled  about  in  the  offing  until  she 
returned  with  the  disagreeable  intelligence  that  all  the  En 
glish  whalers  were  blocked  up  by  ice,  some  thirty  miles  to 
the  northward.  Capt.  Penny  had  been  unable  to  advance, 
and  the  season  was  far  from  a  promising  one  !  Squaring  our 
yards,  we  again  bore  up  for  the  northward.  In  a  few  hours, 
a  strong  reflected  light  to  the  westward  and  northward 
showed  we  were  fast  approaching  the  ice-fields  or  floes  of 
Baffin's  Bay.  A  whaler,  cruising  about,  shortly  showed  her 
self. 


38  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

June  26 th,  1850. — My  rough  notes  are  as  follows  : — A.  M. 
Standing  in  for  the  land,  northward  of  "  Women's  Isles," 
saw  several  whalers  fast  to  the  ice,  inshore.  Observe  one  of 
them  standing  out.  H.  M.  S.  "  Assistance"  is  ordered  to 
communicate.  We  haul  to  the  wind.  I  visit  the  "Reso 
lute."  Learn  that  we  altered  course  last  night  because  the 
floes  were  seen  extending  across  ahead.  The  whaler  turns 
out  to  be  the  "  Abram,"  Captain  Gravill.  He  reports : — 
"  Fourteen  whalers  stopped  by  the  ice  ;  Captain  Penny,  with 
his  ships,  after  incurring  great  risk,  and  going  through  much 
severe  labour,  was  watching  the  floes  with  the  hope  of  slip 
ping  past  them  into  the  north  water." 

Mr.  Gravill  had  lately  ranged  along  the  Pack  edge  as  far 
south  as  Disco,  and  found  not  a  single  opening  except  the 
bight,  up  which  we  had  been  steering  last  night.  He  said, 
furthermore,  "  that  there  would  be  no  passage  across  the  bay, 
this  year,  for  the  whalers,  because  the  water  would  not  make 
sufficiently  early  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  fishing-ground 
in  Pond's  Bay  by  the  first  week  in  August ;  after  which  date, 
the  whales  travel  southward  towards  Labrador."  The  report 
wound  up  with  the  discouraging  statement  that  the  whale 
men  agreed  that  the  floes,  this  season,  were  unusually  ex 
tensive,  that  the  leads  or  cracks  of  water  were  few,  and 
icebergs  more  numerous  than  they  had  been  for  some 
years. 

It  appears  that  a  northerly  gale  has  been  blowing,  with 
but  slight  intermission,  for  the  last  month ;  and  that,  in  con 
sequence,  there  is  a  large  body  of  water  to  the  north,  the  ice 
from  which  has  been  forced  into  the  throat  of  Davis'  Straits. 
All  we  have  to  pray  for  is,  a  continuation  of  the  same  breeze, 
for  otherwise  southeily  winds  will  jam  the  whole  body  of  it 
up  in  Melville  Bay,  and  make  what  is  called  a  "closed 


A    OUECK.  39 

Mr.  G (though  not  a  friend  of  Penny's)  told  us  that 

Penny  was  working  day  and  night  to  get  ahead,  and  had 
already  run  no  small  risk,  and  undergone  extraordinary 
labour.  Poor  Penny !  I  felt  that  fate  had  been  against 
him !  He  deserved  better  than  to  be  overtaken  by  us, 
after  the  energy  displayed  in  the  equipment  of  his  squad 
ron. 

In  the  first  watch  the  brigs  "  Lady  Franklin"  and  "  So 
phia"  were  seen  by  us,  fast  between  loose  floe  pieces,  to  sea 
ward  of  which  we  continued  to  flirt.  The  "  Intrepid"  and 
"  Pioneer"  were  now  to  be  seen  slyly  trying  their  bows  upon 
every  bit  of  ice  we  could  get  near,  without  getting  into  a 
scrape  with  the  commodore;  and,  from  the  ease  with  which 
they  cut  through  the  rotten  stuff  around  our  position,  I  al 
ready  foresaw  a  fresh  era  in  arctic  history,  and  that  the  fine 
bows  would  soon  beat  the  antediluvian  "  bluffs"  out  of  the 
field. 

Thursday,  27th  June,  1850,  found  us  still  cruising  about 
under  canvas  ;  northward  and  westward  a  body  of  dirty  ice, 
fast  decaying  under  a  fierce  sunlight,  bergs  in  hundreds  in 
every  direction  ;  and,  dotted  along  the  Greenland  shore,  a 
number  of  whalers  fast  in  what  is  called  "  Land  water,"  ready 
to  take  the  first  opening.  The  barometer  falling,  we  were 
ordered  to  make  fast  to  icebergs,  every  one  choosing  his  own. 
This  operation  is  a  very  useful  one  in  arctic  regions,  and 
saves  much  unnecessary  wear  and  tear  of  men  and  vessel, 
when  progress  in  the  required  direction  is  no  longer  pos 
sible. 

The  bergs,  from  their  enormous  depth,  are  usually  aground, 
except  at  spring-tides,  and  the  seaman  thus  succeeds  in  an 
choring  his  vessel  in  200  fm.  water,  without  any  other  trouble 
than  digging  a  hole  in  the  iceberg,  placing  an  anchor  in  it 


40  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

called  an  ice-anchor,  which  one  man 
can  lift,  and,  with  a  whale-line,  his 
ship  rides  out  under  the  lee  of  this 
natural  breakwater,  in  severe  gales, 
and  often  escapes  being  beset  in  a 
lee  pack. 

Fastening  to  a  berg  has  its  risks 
and   dangers ;    sometimes    the  first 

stroke  of  the  man  setting  the  ice-anchor,  by  its  concussion 
causes  the  iceberg  to  break  up,  and  the  people  so  em 
ployed  run  great  risk  of  being  injured  ;  at  another  time, 
vessels  obliged  to  make  fast  under  the  steep  side  of  a  berg, 
have  had  pieces  detach  themselves  from,  overhead,  and  in 
jure  materially  the  vessel  and  spars ;  and,  again,  the  pro 
jecting  masses,  called  tongues  (which  form  under  water  the 
base  of  the  berg),  have  been  known  to  break  off,  and  strike 
a  vessel  so  severely  as  to  sink  her:  all  these  risks  are  duly 
detailed  by  every  arctic  navigator,  and  the  object  always  is,  in 
fastening  to  an  iceberg,  to  look  for  a  side  which  is  low  and 
sloping,  without  any  tongues  under  water.  To  such  an  one 
the  Intrepid  and  Pioneer  made  fast,  although  the  boat's  crew 
that  first  reached  it,  in  making  a  hole,  were  wetted  by  a  pro 
jecting  mass  detaching  itself  with  the  first  blow  of  the  sea 
man's  crowbar.  A  gale  sprang  up  almost  immediately,  and 
during  the  night  the  Assistance  blew  adrift.  Next  day  it 
abated,  and  the  ice  to  the  northward  looked  open. 

In  the  evening  one  of  Penny's  vessels,  the  Sophia,  joined 
us,  and  from  her  commander  we  soon  heard  of  their  hopes 
and  disappointment.  Directly  after  leaving  Disco  they  fell 
in  with  the  ice,  and  had  fought  their  way  the  whole  distance 
to  their  present  position.  The  season  was  not  promising,  but 
forty-eight  hours  of  a  N.  E.  wind  would  do  wonders,  and  I 
cordially  partook  of  his  opinion,  that  "  keeping  the  vessel's 


TOWING  THE  SHIPS.  41 

nose  to  the  crack"  was  the  only  way  to  get  ahead  in  the 
arctic  regions.  The  crews  of  the  brigs  were  in  rattling  health 
and  spirits.  Having  delivered  him  some  letters  and  a  num 
ber  of  parcels  which,  by  great  good  luck,  had  not  been  landed 
at  Uppernavik,  Capt.  Stewart  returned  to  his  chief,  some 
eight  miles  northward  of  us,  and  we  remained  to  watch 
progress. 

Saturday,  June  29 *A,  1850.— 

Monday,  July  Isf,  1850. — At  last  the  hoped-for  signal, 
"  take  ships  in  tow,"  was  made ;  and,  with  a  leaping  heart,  we 
entered  the  lead,  having  the  "  Resolute"  fust  by  the  nose 
with  a  six-inch  hawser.  What  looked  impassable  at  ten 
miles'  distance  was  an  open  lead  when  close  to.  Difficulties 
vanish  when  they  are  faced  ;  and  the  very  calm  which  ren 
dered  the  whalers  unable  to  take  advantage  of  a  loose  pack, 
was  just  the  thing  for  steamers.  Away  we  went!  past  berg, 
past  floe,  winding  in  and  out  quietly,  yet  steadily ! — and  the 
whalers  were  soon  astern.  Penny,  indefatigable,  was  seen 
struggling  along  the  shore,  with  his  boats  ahead,  towing,  and 
every  stitch  of  sail  set  to  catch  the  lightest  cat's  paw :  him 
too,  how'ever,  we  soon  passed.  The  water  ahead  increased 
as  we  advanced,  .and  we  found,  as  is  well  known  to  be  the 
case,  that  the  pack-edge  is  always  the  tightest  part  of  it. 

Several  whale-boats  from  the  vessels  astern  were  busy 
taking  ducks'  eggs  from  the  islands,  which  seem  to  abound 
along  the  coast.  When  passing  one  of  these  islands  that  ap 
peared  remarkably  steep,  I  was  disagreeably  surprised  to 
feel  the  "  Pioneer"  strike  against  a  sunken  rock  with  some 
violence;  she  slipped  off  it,  and  then  the  "  Resolute"  gave 
herself  a  blow,  which  seemed  to  make  every  thing  quiver 
again.  Capt.  Penny  had  a  signal  up  warning  us  of  the  dan- 


42  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

ger ;  but  we  were  too  busy  to  see  it  until  afterwards,  and 
then  the  want  of  wind  prevented  our  ascertaining  what  was 
meant.  After  this  accident  we  went  very  cautiously  until 
the  evening  hour,  when,  having  neared  Cape  Shackleton,  and 
some  thin  ice  showing  itself,  through  which,  at  reduced  speed, 
we  could  not  tow  the  broad-bowed  "  Resolute,"  she  was  cast 
off,  and  made  fast  to  some  land  ice,  and  I  proceeded  on  alone 
in  the  "  Pioneer"  to  see  what  the  prospect  was  further  on. 

Cutting  through  some  rotten  ice  of  about  six  inches  in 
thickness,  we  reached  wrater  beyond  it,  and  saw  a  belt  of 
water,  of  no  great  width,  extending  along  shore  as  far  as  the 
next  headland,  called  Horse's-head.  Picking  up  a  boat  be 
longing  to  the  "  Chieftain"  whaler,  which  had  been  shooting 
and  egging,  I  returned  towards  the  "  Resolute"  with  my  in- 
tellige"nce,  giving  Cape  Shackleton  a  close  shave  to  avoid  the 
ice  which  was  setting  against  it  from  the  westward,  the 
whalemen  whom  I  had  on  board  expressing  no  small  as 
tonishment  and  delight  at  the  way  in  which  we  screwed 
through  the  broken  ice  of  nine-inch  thickness.  On  reaching 
the  squadron,  I  found  it  made  fast  for  the  night,  and  parties 
of  officers  preparing  to  start  in  different  directions  to  shoot, 
and  see  what  was  to  be  seen,  for,  of  course,  our  night  was  as 
light  as  the  day  of  any  other  region. 

To  the  "  Chieftain's"  doctor  I,  with  others  of  the  "  Pio 
neer,"  consigned  what  we  flattered  ourselves  were  our  last 
letters,  thinking  that,  now  the  steamers  had  got  ahead,  it 
was  not  likely  the  whalers  would  again  be  given  an  oppor 
tunity  of  communicating  or  overtaking  us. 

There  is  something  in  last  letters  painful  and  choking; 
and  I  remember  that  I  hardly  knew  which  feeling  most  pre 
dominated  in  my  breast, — sorrow  and  regret  for  those  friends 
I  had  left  behind  me,  or  hope  and  joyful  anticipation  of 
meeting  those  before  us  in  the  "  Erebus  and  Terror." 


OAPE  SHACKLETON.  43 

At  any  rate,  I  gave  vent  to  them  by  climbing  the  rocky 
summit  of  Cape  Shackleton,  and  throwing  off  my  jacket,  let 
the  cold  breeze  allay  the  excitement  of  my  mind. 

Nothing  strikes  the  traveller  in  the  north  more  strongly 
than  the  perceptible  repose  of  Nature,  although  the  sun  is 
still  illumining  the  heavens,  during  those  hours  termed  night. 
We,  of  course,  who  were  unaccustomed  to  the  constant  light, 
were  restless  and  unable  to  sleep;  but  the  inhabitants  of 
these  regions,  as  well  as  the  animals,  retire  to  rest  with  as 
much  regularity  as  is  done  in  more  southern  climes ;  and  the 
subdued  tints  of  the  heavens,  as  well  as  the  heavy  banking 
of  clouds  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  sun,  gives  to  the  arc 
tic  summer  night  a  quietude  as  marked  as  it  is  pleasant. 
Across  Baffin's  Bay  there  was  ice !  ice  !  ice !  on  every  side, 
small  faint  streaks  of  water  here  and  there  in  the  distance, 
with  one  cheering  strip  of  it  winding  snake-like  along  the 
coast  as  far  as  eye  could  reach.  "To-morrow  !"  I  exclaimed, 
"we  will  be  there."  "Yes!"  replied  a  friend,  "  but  if  the 
breeze  freshens,  Penny  will  reach  it  to-night !"  And  there, 
sure  enough,  were  Penny's  brigs  sailing  past  our  squadron, 
which  showed  no  sign  of  vitality  beyond  that  of  the  officer 
of  the  watch  visiting  the  ice-anchors  to  see  all  was  right. 
"That  fellow,  Penny,  is  no  sluggard!"  we  muttered,  "and 
will  yet  give  the  screws  a  hard  tussle  to  beat  him." 

A  couple  of  hours  rest,  and  having  taken  the  ship  in 
tow,  we  again  proceeded,  and  at  about  seven  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  2d  of  July  passed  the  "Sophia,"  and  shortly 
afterwards,  the  "  Lady  Franklin."  Alas  !  poor  Penny,  he  had 
a  light  contrary  wind  to  work  against. 

I  do  not  think  my  memory  can  recall  in  the  course  of  my 
wanderings  any  thing  more  novel  or  striking  than  the  scenes 
through  which  we  steamed  this  forenoon.  The  land  of 
Greenland,  so  bold,  so  steep,  and  in  places  so  grim,  with 


44  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

the  long  fields  of  white  glittering  ice  floating  about  on  the 
cold  blue  sea,  and  our  little  vessels  (for  we  looked  pigmies 
beside  the  huge  objects  around  us,  whether  cliff,  berg,  or 
glacier)  stealing  on  so  silently  and  quickly ;  the  leadsman's 
song  or  the  flap  of  wild  fowl  the  only  sounds  to  break  the 
general  stillness.  One  of  the  cliffs  we  skirted  along  was 
actually  teeming  with  birds  called  "  loons :"  they  might 
have  been  shot  in  tens  of  hundreds  had  we  required  them 
or  time  not  pressed  :  they  are  considered  remarkably  good 
eating,  and  about  the  size  and  weight  of  an  ordinary  duck : 
to  naturalists  they  are  known  by  the  name  of  guillemot,  and 
were  christened  "  loons"  by  the  early  Dutch  navigators,  in 
consequence  of  their  stupidity.  Numerous  seals  lay  on  the 
ice  in  the  offing,  and  their  great  size  astonished  us. 

As  we  advanced,  a  peculiarly  conical  island,  in  a  broad 
and  ice-encumbered  bay,  showed  itself:  it  was  "  the  Sugar- 
Loaf  Island"  of  the  whalers ;  and  told  us  that,  on  rounding 
the  farther  headland,  we  should  see  the  far-famed  Devil's 
Thumb,  the  boundary  of  Melville  Bay. 

A  block  of  ice  brought  us  up  after  a  tow  of  some  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles,  and,  each  vessel  picking  up  a  convenient 
iceberg,  we  made  fast  to  await  an  opening. 

I  landed  to  obtain  a  view  from  a  small  islet  close  to  the 
"  Pioneer,"  and  was  rewarded  by  observing  that  the  Duck 
Islands,  a  group  some  fifteen  miles  to  seaward  of  us,  had 
evidently  a  large  space  of  open  water  around  them,  and 
broad  lanes  extended  from  these  in  divers  directions  towards 
us,  although,  without  retracing  our  steps,  there  was  at  present 
no  direct  road  for  us  into  this  water. 

Captain  Penny,  however,  being  astern,  had  struck  to  sea 
ward,  and  was  fast  passing  our  position. 

On  the  islands  there  were  recent  traces  of  both  reindeer 
and  bears ;  and  I  amused  myself  picking  some  pretty  arctic 


A   BEAR  HUNT.  45 

flowers,  such  as  anemones,  poppies,  and  saxifrage,  which  grew 
in  sheltered  nooks  amongst  the  rocks. 

Before  leaving  the  vessel,  a  boat  had  been  despatched  to 
the  headland  where  so  many  "  loons"  had  been  seen,  to  shoot 
for  the  ship's  company's  use  :  the  other  ships  did  likewise  : 
they  returned  at  about  four  o'clock  next  morning,  and  I  was 
annoyed  at  being  informed,  without  any  birds,  although  all 
the  powder  and  shot  had  been  expended. 

I  sent  for  the  captain  of  the  forecastle,  who  had  been  away 
in  charge  of  the  sportsmen,  and,  with  astonishment,  asked 
how  he  had  contrived  to  fire  away  one  pound  of  powder  and 
four  of  small  shot,  without  bringing  home  some  loons] 
Hanging  his  head,  and  looking  uncommonly  bashful,  he 
answered,  "  If  you  please,  sir.  we  fired  it  all  into  a  bear !" 
"  Into  a  bear?"  I  exclaimed,  "what !  shoot  a  bear  with  No. 
4  shot  f  "  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Abbot ;  "  and  if  it  hadn't  have 
been  for  two  or  three  who  were  afeard  of  him,  we  would  have 
brought  him  aboard,  too."  Sending  my  bear-hunting  friend 
about  his  business  for  neglecting  my  orders  to  obtain  fresh 
food  for  the  crew,  I  afterward  found  out  that  on  passing  a 
small  island  between  the  "  Pioneer"  and  the  Loon  Head,  as 
the  cliff  was  called,  my  boat's  crew  had  observed  a  bear 
watching  some  seals,  and  it  was  voted  immediately,  that  to 
be  the  first  to  bring  a  bear  home,  would  immortalize  the 
"  Pioneer." 

A  determined  onslaught  was  therefore  made  on  Bruin  : 
No.  4  shot  being  poured  into  him  most  ruthlessly,  he 
growled  and  snapped  his  teeth,  trotted  round  the  island, 
and  was  still  followed  and  fired  at,  until,  finding  the  fun  all 
on  one  side,  the  brute  plunged  into  the  water,  and  swam  for 
some  broken-up  ice ;  my  heroes  followed,  and,  for  lack  of 
ball,  fired  at  him  a  waistcoat  button  and  the  blade  of  a  knife, 
which,  by  great  ingenuity,  they  had  contrived  to  cram  down 


46  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

one  of  their  muskets  ;  this  very  naturally,  as  they  described 
it,  "made  the  beast  jump  again  !"  he  reached  the  ice,  how 
ever,  bleeding  all  over,  but  not  severely  injured ;  and  whilst 
the  bear  was  endeavouring  to  get  on  the  floe,  a  spirited 
contest  ensued  between  him  and  Old  Abbot,  the  latter  try 
ing  to  become  possessor  of  a  skin,  which  the  former  gallantly 
defended. 

Ammunition  expended,  and  nothing  but  boat-hooks  and 
stretchers  left  as  defensive  weapons,  there  seemed  some 
chance  of  the  tables  being  reversed,  and  the  boat's  crew 
very  properly  obliged  the  captain  of  the  forecastle  to  beat  a 
retreat;  the  bear,  equally  well  pleased  to  be  rid  of  such 
visitors,  made  off.  "  Old  Abbot,"  as  he  was  styled,  always, 
however,  asserted,  that  if  he  had  had  his  way,  the  bear  would 
have  been  brought  on  board  the  "  Pioneer,"  and  tamed  to  do 
a  good  deal  of  the  dragging  work  of  the  sledges  ;  and  when 
ever  he  heard,  in  the  winter,  any  of  the  young  hands  growling 
at  the  labour  of  sledging  away  snow  or  ice,  he  created  a  roar 
of  laughter,  by  muttering,  "  Ah  !  if  you  had  taken  my  advice, 
we'd  have  had  that  'ere  bear  to  do  this  work  for  us  !" 

July  3c?,  1850. — Penny,  by  taking  another  route,  gave 
us  the  "  go  by,"  and  in  the  afternoon  we  started,  taking  an 
in-shore  lane  of  water.  The  wind,  however,  had  freshened 
up  from  the  westward,  and  as  we  advanced,  the  ice  was 
rapidly  closing,  the  points  of  the  floe-pieces  forming  "  bars," 
with  holes  of  water  between  them.  With  the  "  Pioneer's" 
sharp  bow,  we  broke  through  the  first  of  these  barriers,  and 
carried  the  "  Resolute"  into  "  a  hole  of  water,"  as  it  is  called. 
The  next  bar  being  broader,  I  attempted  to  force  it  by  charg 
ing  with  the  steamer,  and  after  breaking  up  a  portion  of  it, 
backed  astern  to  allow  the  broken  pieces  to  be  removed; 
this  being  the  first  time  this  operation  was  performed,  and 


ARCTIC  SPORTING.  47 

much  having  to  be  learnt  upon  the  feasibility  of  the  different 
modes  of  applying  steam-power  against  ice. 

We  soon  found  ourselves  surrounded  with  broken  masses, 
which,  owing  to  the  want  of  men  to  remove  it  away  into  the 
open  water  astern,  rendered  advance  or  retreat,  without  injury 
to  the  propeller,  almost  impossible.  Here,  the  paucity  of 
men  on  board  the  steam  vessels  was  severely  felt :  for  until 
the  "  Resolute"  was  properly  secured  I  could  expect  no  assist 
ance  from  her ;  and  the  "  Pioneer,"  therefore,  had  to  do  her 
best  with  half  the  number  of  men,  although  she  was  fifty  feet 
longer  than  the  ship.  Unable  to  move,  the  closing  floes  fast 
beset  the  steamer,  and  then  the  large  parties  of  men  that 
joined  from  the  squadron  to  assist  were  useless,  beyond  some 
practice,  which  all  seemed  willing  to  undertake,  in  the  use  of 
ice-tools,  consisting  of  chisels,  poles  with  iron  points,  claws, 
lines,  &c. 

In  a  short  time,  the  prospect  of  liberating  the  "  Pioneer" 
was  seen  to  be  farcical,  and  all  the  officers  and  men  from  the 
"  Resolute"  returned  to  their  ship,  although  parties  of  novices 
would  walk  down  constantly  to  see  the  first  vessel  beset  in 
the  ice. 

A  few  birds  playing  about  induced  myself  and  some  others 
to  go  out  shooting,  a  foggy  night  promising  to  be  favourable 
to  our  larders.  The  ice,  however,  was  full  of  holes,  and  very 
decayed  ;  in  addition  to  which  it  was  in  rapid  motion  in  many 
places,  from  the  action  of  wind  and  tide.  The  risk  of  such 

sporting  was  well  evinced  in  my  gallant  friend  M 's  case. 

He  was  on  one  side  of  a  lane  of  water,  and  I  on  the  other: 
a  bird  called  a  "Burgomaster"  flew  over  his  head  to  seaward, 
and  he  started  in  the  direction  it  had  gone.  I  and  another 
shouted  to  warn  him  of  the  ice  being  in  rapid  motion  and 
very  thin  ;  he  halted  for  a  moment,  and  then  ran  on,  leaping 
from  piece  to  piece.  The  fog  at  this  moment  lifted  a  little, 


48  AROTIG  JOURNAL. 

and  most  providentially  so,  for  suddenly  I  saw  M make 

a  leap  and  disappear — the  ice  had  given  way! — he  soon  rose, 
but  without  his  gun,  and  I  then  saw  him  scramble  upon  a 
piece  of  ice,  and  on  watching  it,  observed  with  a  shudder  that 
both  he  and  it  were  drifting  to  the  northward,  and  away  from 
us.  Leaving  my  remaining  companion  to  keep  sight  of 
M ,  and  thus  to  point  out  the  way  on  my  return,  I  re 
traced  my  steps  to  the  "  Pioneer,"  and  with  a  couple  of  men, 
a  long  hand-line,  and  boarding-pikes,  started  off  in  the  direc 
tion  M was  in. 

I  could  tell  my  route  pretty  well  by  my  companion's 
voice,  which  in  rich  Milesian  was  giving  utterance  to  encour 
aging  exclamations  of  the  most  original  nature — "  Keep  up 
your  courage,  my  boy  ! — Why  don't  you  come  back  ? — Faith. 
I  suppose  it's  water  that  won't  let  you  ! — There  will  be  some 
one  there  directly  ! — Hoy  !  hoy !  ahoy  !  don't  be  down 
hearted  anyway  !"  I  laughed  as  I  ran.  My  party  placed 
themselves  about  ten  yards  apart,  the  last  man  carrying  the 
line,  ready  to  heave,  in  case  of  the  leader  breaking  through. 
So  weak  was  the  ice  that  we  had  to  keep  at  a  sharp  trot  to 
prevent  the  weight  of  our  own  bodies  resting  long  on  any  one 

spot ;  and  when  we  sighted  our  friend  M on  his  little 

piece  of  firm  ice,  the  very  natural  exclamation  of  one  of  my 

men  was,  "  I  wonder  how  he  ever  reached  it,  sir  ?"     M 

assisted  us  to  approach  him  by  pointing  out  his  own  route ; 
and  by  extending  our  line,  and  holding  on  to  it,  we  at  last 
got  "near  enough  to  take  him  off  the  piece  of  detached  ice  on 
which  he  had  providentially  scrambled.  I  never  think  of  the 
occurrence  without  a  sickening  sensation,  mixed  with  a  comic 

recollection  of  K 's  ejaculations.     Whilst  walking  back 

with  my  half-frozen  friend,  the  ice  showed  itself  to  be  easing 
off  rapidly  with  the  turn  of  tide.  At  1  A.  M.  we  were  all 
free,  and  a  lane  of  water  extending  itself  ahead. 


MELVILLE  SAY.  49 

July  4th. — At  1  P.  M.  we  started  again,  towing  the  ships, 
the  whaling  fleet  from  the  southward  under  every  stitch  of 
canvas  threatening  to  reach  the  Duck  Islands  before  our 
selves,  and  Captain  Penny's  squadron  out  of  sight  to  the 
north-west.  By  dint  of  hard  steaming  we  contrived  to  reach 
the  islands  before  the  whalers,  and  at  midnight  got  orders  to 
cast  off  and  cruise  about  under  sail,  all  the  vessels  rejoining 
us  that  we  had  passed  some  days  ago  off  the  Women's  Isles. 

The  much  talked  of,  by  whalemen,  "  Devil's  Thumb,"  was 
now  open  ;  it  appears  to  be  a  huge  mass  of  granite  or  basalt, 
which  rears  itself  on  a  cliff  of  some  600  or  800  feet  eleva 
tion,  and  is  known  as  the  southern  boundary  of  Melville 
Bay,  round  whose  dreary  circuit,  year  after  year,  the  fisher 
men  work  their  way  to  reach  the  large  body  of  water 
about  the  entrance  of  Lancaster  Sound  and  Pond's  Bay. 
Facing  to  the  south-west,  from  whence  the  worst  gales 
of  wind  at  this  season  of  the  year  arise,  it  is  not  to  be  won 
dered  at  that  Melville  Bay  has  been  the  grave  of  many  a 
goodly  craft,  and  in  one  disastrous  year  the  whaling  fleet  was 
diminished  by  no  less  than  twenty-eight  sail  (without  the 
loss  of  life,  however),  a  blow  from  which  it  never  has  recov 
ered.  No  good  reason  was  adduced  for  taking  this  route, 
beyond  the  argument,  founded  upon  experience,  that  the  ear 
liest  passages  were  always  to  be  made  by  Melville  Bay  ;  this 
I  perfectly  understood,  for  early  in  the  season,  when  northerly 
winds  do  prevail,  the  coast  of  Melville  Bay  is  a  weather- 
shore,  and  the  ice,  acted  upon  by  wind  and  current,  would 
detach  itself  and  form  between  the  land-ice  and  the  pack-ice 
a  safe  high-road  to  the  westward.  It  was  far  otherwise  in 
1850.  The  prospect  of  an-early  passage,  viz.,  from  the  first 
to  the  third  week  of  June,  had  long  vanished.  Southerly 
winds,  after  so  long  a  prevalence  of  northerly  ones  (vide 
Captain  Gravill's  information),  were  to  be  expected.  The 


50  ARCTIC  JOURNAL, 

whole  weight  of  the  Atlantic  would  be  forced  up  Davis's 
Straits,  and  Melville  Bay  become  "a  dead  lee-shore."  I 
should  therefore  not  have  taken  the  ice,  or  attempted  to  work 
my  way  round  Melville  Bay,  and  would  instead  have  gone  to 
the  westward  and  struck  off  sooner  or  later  into  the  west 
water,  in  about  the  latitude  of  Uppernavik,  73°  30'  N. 

However,  this  is  what  amongst  the  experienced  is  styled 
theory  ;  and  as  any  thing  was  better  than  standing  still,  1  was 
heartily  glad  to  see  the  "  Chieftain,"  a  bonnie  Scotch  whaler, 
show  us  the  road  by  entering  a  lead  of  water,  and  away  we 
all  went,  working  to  windwrard.  The  sailing  qualities  of  the 
naval  Arctic  ships  threatened  to  be  sadly  eclipsed  by  queer- 
looking  craft,  like  the  "  Truelove"  and  others.  But  steam 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  after  twelve  hours'  hard  struggle  we 
got  the  pendants  again  ahead  of  our  enterprising  and  ener 
getic  countrymen. 

Saturday,  July  Qth. — By  6  A.  M.  we  were  alongside  of 
Penny's  squadron,  which  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  lane 
of  water,  up  which  we  had  also  advanced ;  and  so  keen  was 
he  not  to  lose  the  post  of  honour,  that  as  we  closed,  I  smiled 
to  see  the  Aberdonians  move  their  vessels  up  into  the  very 
"  nip."  In  the  course  of  the  day  the  whalers  again  caught 
us  up,  and  a  long  line  of  masts  and  hulls  dotted  the  floe- 
edge. 

The  ice  was  white  and  hard,  affording  good  exercise  for 
pedestrians,  and  to  novices,  of  whom  there  were  many 
amongst  us,  the  idea  of  walking  about  on  the  frozen  surface 
of  the  sea  was  not  a  little  charming.  In  all  directions  groups 
of  three  and  four  persons  were  seen  trudging  about,  and  the 
constant  puffs  of  smoke  which  rose  in  the  clear  atmosphere, 
showed  that  shooting  for  the  table  was  kept  carefully  in  view. 
A  present  of  170  duck-eggs  from  Captain  Stewart  of  the 


AN  OLD    WHALEMAN.  51 

"Joseph  Green"  whaler,  showed  in  what  profusion  these 
birds  breed,  and  I  was  told  by  Captain  Penny  that  one  of 
the  islets  passed  by  him  on  the  2d  was  literally  alive  with 
ducks,  and  that  several  boat-loads  of  eggs  might  have  been 
taken  off  it, — interesting  proofs  of  the  extraordinary  abun 
dance  of  animal  life  in  these  northern  regions.  Our  Saturday 
evening  was  passed  listening  to  stirring  tales  of  Melville  Bay 
and  the  whale  fishery,  and  several  prophecies  as  to  the 
chances  of  a  very  bad  season,  the  number  of  icebergs  and 
extent  of  the  ice-fields,  inducing  many  to  believe  that  more 
than  usual  risk  would  be  run  in  the  bay  this  year.  Sunday 
forenoon  passed  quietly  and  according  to  law,  though  a  falling 
barometer  made  us  watch  anxiously  a  heavy  bank  of  black 
clouds  which  rested  in  the  southern  heavens. 

The  dinner-bell  however  rang,  and  having  a  very  intelli 
gent  gentleman  who  commands  a  whaler  as  a  guest,  we  were 
much  interested  in  listening  to  his  description  of  the  strange 
life  led  by  men,  like  himself,  engaged  in  the  adventurous  pur 
suit  of  the  whale;  Mr.  S.  assured  us  that  he  had  not  seen 
corn  growr,  or  eaten  fresh  gooseberries  for  thirty  years ! 
although  he  had  been  at  home  every  winter.  Though  now 
advanced  in  years,  with  a  large  family,  one  of  whom  was  the 
commander  of  Her  Majesty's  brig  the  "Sophia,"  then  in 
company,  still  he  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  the  excitement 
and  risks  of  his  own  profession ;  it  had  its  charms  for  the  old 
sailor,  whose  skill  and  enterprise  had  been  excited  for  so 
many  years  in  braving  the  dangers  of  ice-encumbered  seas, 
whether  around  Spitzbergen  or  in  Baffin's  Bay  :  he  evidently 
felt  a  pride  and  satisfaction  in  his  past  career,  and  it  had  still 
sweet  reminiscences  for  him.  I  felt  a  pride  in  seeing  such  a 
man  a  brother-seaman, — one  who  loved  the  North  because  it 
had  hardships — one  who  delighted  to  battle  with  a  noble  foe. 
"  We  are  the  only  people,"  he  said,  "  who  follow  the  whale, 


52  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

and  kill  him  in  spite  of  the  ice  and  cold."  There  was  the  true 
sportsman  in  such  feelings.  He  and  the  whale  were  at  war, 
— not  even  the  ice  could  save  his  prey. 

A  report  from  deck,  that  the  ice  was  coming  in  before  a 
southerly  gale,  finished  our  dinner  very  abruptly,  and  the 
alteration  that  had  taken  place  in  a  couple  of  hours  was 
striking.  A  blue  sky  had  changed  to  one  of  a  dusky  colour, 
— a  moaning  gale  sent  before  it  a  low  brown  vapour,  under 
which  the  ice  gleamed  fiercely, — the  floes  were  rapidly  press 
ing  together.  Two  whalers  were  already  nipped  severely, 
and  their  people  were  getting  the  boats  and  clothing  out  ready 
for  an  accident. 

"  The  sooner  we  are  all  in  dock  the  better,"  said  Captain 
S.,  as  he  hurried  away  to  get  his  own  vessel  into  safety,  and, 
almost  as  quickly  as  I  can  tell  it,  a  scene  of  exciting  interest 
commenced — that  of  cutting  docks  in  the  fixed  ice,  called 
land-floe,  so  as  to  avoid  the  pressure  which  would  occur  at  its 
edge  by  the  body  of  ice  to  seaward  being  forced  against  it  by 
the  fast  rising  gale.  Smart  things  are  done  in  the  Navy,  but 
I  do  not  think  any  thing  could  excel  the  alacrity  with  which 
the  floe  was  suddenly  peopled  by  about  500  men,  triangles 
rigged,  and  the  long  saws  (called  ice-saws)  used  for  cutting 


the  ice,  were  manned.     A  hundred  songs  from  hoarse  throats 
resounded  through  the  gale ;  the  sharp  chipping  of  the  saws 


DOCKING  IN  THE  ICE.  53 

told  that  the  work  was  flying;  and  the  loud  laugh  or  broad 
witticisms  of  the  crews  mingled  with  the  words  of  command 
and  encouragement  to  exertion  given  by  the  officers. 

The  pencil  of  a  Wilkie  could  hardly  convey  the  character 
istics  of  such  a  scene,  and  it  is  far  beyond  my  humble  pen  to 
tell  of  the  stirring  animation  exhibited  by  some  twenty 
ships'  companies,  who  knew  that  on  their  own  exertions 
depended  the  safety  of  their  vessels  and  the  success  of  their 
voyage.  The  ice  was  of  an  average  thickness  of  three  feet, 
and  to  cut  this  saws  of  ten  feet  long  were  used,  the  length  .of 
stroke  being  about  as  far  as  the  men  directing  the  saw  could 
reach  up  and  down.  A  little  powder  was  used  to  break  up 
the  pieces  that  were  cut,  so  as  to  get  them  easily  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  dock,  an  operation  which  the  officers  of  our  ves 
sels  performed  whilst  the  men  cut  away  with  the  saws.  In  a 
very  short  time  all  the  vessels  were  in  safety,  the  pressure 
of  the  pack  expending  itself  on  a  chain  of  bergs  some  ten 
miles  north  of  our  present  position.  The  unequal  contest 
between  floe  and  iceberg  exhibited  itself  there  in  a  fearful 
manner;  for  the  former  pressing  onward  against  the  huge 
grounded  masses  was  torn  into  shreds,  and  thrown  back 
piecemeal,  layer  on  layer  of  many  feet  in  elevation,  as  if 
mere  shreds  of  some  flimsy  material,  instead  of  solid,  hard 
ice,  every  cubic  yard  of  which  weighed  nearly  a  ton. 

The  smell  of  our  numerous  fires  brought  a  bear  in  sight ; 
Nimrods  without  number  issued  out  to  slay  him,  the  weapons 
being  as  varied  as  the  individuals  were  numerous.  The  chase 
would,  however,  have  been  a  fruitless  one,  had  not  the  bear 
in  his  retreat  fallen  in  with  and  killed  a  seal ;  his  voracity 
overcame  his  fears,  and  being  driven  into  the  water,  he  was 
shot  from  the  boat  of  one  of  the  whalers  which  had  perseve- 
ringly  followed  him. 

The  brute  was  of  no  great  size — not  more  than  five  feet  in 


54  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

length.  The  coat,  instead  of  being  white,  was  turned  to  a 
dingy  yellow,  much  resembling  in  colour  decayed  ice  ;  a 
resemblance  which  enabled  the  animal,  no  doubt,  to  approach 
the  seals  with  greater  facility. 

By  midnight  all  fears  for  the  safety  of  the  vessels  had 
ceased ;  indeed,  as  far  as  our  searching  ships  had  been  con 
cerned,  there  never  had  been  much  cause  for  fear,  the  opera 
tion  of  docking  having  been  carried  out  by  us  more  for  the 
sake  of  practice  than  from  necessity.  We  were  tightly 
beset  until  the  following  evening,  when  the  ice  as  suddenly 
moved  off  as  it  had  come  together ;  and  then  a  scene  of  joy 
ful  excitement  took  place,  such  as  is  only  to  be  seen  in  the 
arctic  regions — every  ship  striving  to  be  foremost  in  her 
escape  from  imprisonment,  and  to  lead  ahead.  Want  of 
wind  obliged  the  whalers  and  Penny's  brigs  to  be  tracked 
along  the  floe-edge  by  the  crews — a  laborious  operation, 
which  is  done  on  our  English  canals  by  horses  ;  here,  how 
ever,  the  powerful  crews  of  fishermen,  mustering  from  thirty- 
five  to  fifty  hands,  fastened  on  by  their  track-belts  to  a  whale- 
line,  and,  with  loud  songs,  made  their  vessels  slip  through  the 
water  at  an  astonishing  pace. 

An  odd  proof  of  the  unhandiness  of  such  vessels  as  the 
"  Resolute"  and  "  Assistance"  was  given  to-day:  the  former 
endeavoured  to  tow  herself  ahead  by  the  aid  of  all  her  boats, 
a  distance  of  about  three  or  four  hundred  yards,  and  was 
quite  unable  to  do  so,  although  the  wind  against  her  hardly 
amounted  to  a  cat's  paw ;  the  consequence  was,  that  until 
the  steam  vessels  got  hold,  she  was  fast  dropping  astern  of 
the  whalers,  and,  as  was  usually  the  case,  every  one's  temper 
was  going  wrong.  The  run  was  not  a  very  long  one,  and  in  the 
heart  of  a  fleet  of  icebergs  we  again  brought  up :  one  whaler, 
"  The  Truelove,"  having  turned  back  in  despair  of  a  passage 
north-about  to  Pond's  Bay. 


TRACKING-  AND  TOWING.  55 

From  our  position  a  good  view  of  Melville  Bay  was  to 
be  had,  and  a  more  melancholy  one,  eye  never  rested  upon. 
Surrounded  as  \ve  were  with  bergs,  we  had  to  climb  a  neigh 
bouring  mass  to  obtain  a  clear  horizon  ;  the  prospect  to  sea 
ward  was  not  cheering  ;  and  from  the  Devil's  Thumb  north 
ward,  one  huge  glacier  spread  itself.  The  first  sensation  we 
felt  was  that  of  pity  for  the  poor  land — pressed  down  and 
smothered  under  so  deadly  a  weight :  here  and  there,  a  strip 
of  cliff  protruded,  black  and  bare,  from  the  edge  of  the  mer-de- 
glace,  whose  surface,  rough  and  unpleasing,  was  of  a  sombre 
yellowish  tint,  with  occasional  masses  of  basalt  protruding 
through  it.  like  the  uplifted  hands  of  drowning  men :  it 
seemed  Earth's  prayer  for  light  and  life;  but  the  ice,  shroud- 
like,  enveloped  it,  and  would  not  give  up  the  dead. 

July  9th. — Every  day  taught  us  something:  we  had 
learned  that  the  ice  went  off  as  rapidly,  if  not  more  so,  than  it 
came  in ;  and  when  an  opening  occurred  to-day,  the  "  Pio 
neer,"  with  the  "  Resolute"  again  in  tow,  was  ahead  of  the 
whalers,  and  close  on  Penny's  heels. 

The  ice  to-day  lay  much  across,  forming  very  tortuous 
channels ;  and  the  performance  of  the  screws,  in  twisting 
themselves  and  their  tail-pieces  (the  ships)  round  floe-pieces 
and  bergs,  was  as  interesting  as  it  was  satisfactory.  In  some 
places  we  had  to  adopt  a  plan,  styled  by  us  "  making  a  can 
non  !"  from  its  resemblance  to  the  same  feat  in  billiards. 
This  generally  occurred  at  sharp  and  intricate  turns,  where 
the  breadth  of  water  was  considerably  less  than  the  length 
of  the  vessels ;  we  then,  in  order  to  get  the  vessel's  stem  in 
the  proper  direction,  used  to  steer  her  in  such  a  way,  that  the 
bow  on  the  opposite  side  to  which  we  wanted  her  to  turn  struck 
the  ice  with  some  force ;  the  consequence  was,  the  steamer 
would  turn  short  off,  and  save  the  risk  of  getting  athwart 


56  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

"  the  lead,"  and  aid  in  checking  the  ship  round  at  the  same 
time. 

Another  novel  application  of  steam  took  place  to-day. 
We  came  to  a  bar  of  ice,  formed  of  loose  floe-pieces  of  all 
sizes,  but  too  small  to  heave  through  by  means  of  ice-anchors 
and  lines ;  Penny  stood  close  up  to  it,  but  he  could  neither 
sail  through  it,  nor  warp  ;  he  had  therefore  to  make  a  long 
detour  round  its  edge  :  steam  however  was  able  to  do  it ;  and 
with  our  knife-like  bows,  aided  by  the  propeller,  we  soon 
wedged  a  road  through  for  ourselves  and  the  "  Resolute." 

Detentions  in  the  ice  were  amongst  the  most  trying  mo 
ments  of  our  life  in  the  North  ;  and  from  the  composition 
of  our  squadron,  namely,  two  fast  vessels,  and  two  slow 
ones,  the  constant  waiting  for  one  another  put  me  much  in 
mind  of  the  old  dogger-el  : — 

"  The  Earl  of  Chatham  with  sword  drawn, 
Was  waiting  for  Sir  Richard  Strachan ; 
Sir  Richard  longing  to  be  at  'em, 
"Was  waiting  for  the  Earl  of  Chatham." 

The  risk  of  detention  in  such  a  region  can  be  understood 
by  all ;  but  few,  perhaps,  will  appreciate  the  feeling  of 
mingled  passion  and  regret  with  which  the  leading  vessel  in 
such  a  mission  as  we  had  in  hand  found  herself  obliged  to 
wait  to  close  her  consort,  when  all  was  water  ahead,  and  the 
chances  of  it  remaining  so  were  but  slight.  A  few  hours  we 
all  knew  had  often  made  the  difference  of  a  passage  across 
Melville  Bay  without  detention,  or  of  a  long,  laborious  voyage 
— here  we  were  waiting  for  our  consorts. 

On  the  10th,  a  short  tow;  and  in  company  with  a  portion 
of  the  whalers,  for  several  had  retreated,  we  again  had  to 
dock,  to  escape  nipping  from  the  ice,  and  on  the  morrow,  a 


FA  VOURABLE  PROSPECT.  57 

similar  scene  of  hurry  and  excitement  took  place  when  libera 
tion  came. 

Thursday r,  llth. — Seven  of  the  most  enterprising  whalers 
still  hung  on  our  heels,  and  to-day  found  us  all  at'  a  bar 
beyond  which  there  was  a  sea  of  water.  Patience!  was  the 
"  mot  cCordre  ;"  and  it  vented  itself  in  a  number  of  dinners 
and  the  winding-up  of  letters ;  for  we  all  felt  that  the  hour 
of  separation  from  the  whalers  would  soon  arrive.  They  all 
were  delighted  with  the  performance  of  the  steam  vessels  in 
the  ice,  and  quizzed  our  crews  for  sitting  at  their  ease,  whilst 
they  had  to  drag  like  horses.  Captain  Penny,  likewise,  can 
didly  acknowledged  that  he  never  thought  they  could  have 
answered  so  well ;  and  regretted  that  he  had  not  had  a  steam 
vessel.  Our  seamen  fully  appreciated  the  good  service  the 
screws  had  done  them  :  they  had  now  been  eleven  days  in  the 
ice,  during  every  day  of  which  period  they  had  witnessed  it 
working  effectually  under  every  circumstance ;  they  had  seen 
the  crews  of  the  whalers  labouring  at  the  track-line,  at  the 
oar,  and  in  making  and  shortening  sail,  both  by  day  and  by 
night ;  whilst  our  crews  had  nothing  to  do  beyond  taking  the 
ships  in  tow  and  casting  them  off  again ;  already  I  observed 
a  really  sincere  anxiety  upon  all  their  parts  for  the  safety  of 
the  "  screw."  I  heard  from  henceforth  inquiries  amongst 
them,  whenever  a  shock  took  place,  "  Whether  she  was  all 
right  ?"  or  to  my  orders,  a  ready  response — "  All  right,  sir ! 
she  is  all  free  of  the  ice  !" 

At  night  the  bar  opened,  and  giving  the  "Lady  Franklin" 
a  jerk  into  the  water  beyond,  the  "  Intrepid"  and  "  Pioneer" 
rattled  away  with  the  ships  in  tow,  as  hard  as  steam  could 
take  them.  Oh,  for  one  run  of  ninety  miles !  There  was 
open  water  ahead ;  but,  alas !  we  could  only  get  three  miles 
an  hour  out  of  our  vessel — alone,  we  could  have  gone  five ; 

3* 


58  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

making  in  a  day's  work  the  difference  between  seventy-two 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  had  outrun  both  Penny 
and  the  whalers ;  and,  could  we  only  have  gone  faster,  as 
suredly  the  passage  of  Melville  Bay  would  have  been  that 
day  effected.  The  land-floe  was  still  fast,  reaching  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  oft'  shore,  and  the  pack  had  drifted  off 
some  ten  or  fifteen  miles;  between  the  two  we  were  steam 
ing  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  July,  and  all 
was  promising — a  headland  called  Cape  Walker  and  Melville 
Monument  opening  fast  to  view.  The  quarter-master  grinned, 
as  he  made  his  report,  that  he  was  sure  we  were  in  what  was 
a  fair  lead  into  the  North  Water ! 

Hope  is  not  prophecy !  and  so  they  will  find  who  labour 
in  the  North ;  for  how  changed  was  the  prospect  when  I  went 
on  deck  after  a  short  sleep — a  south  wind  had  sprung  up. 
We  were  under  sail.  The  pack  was  coming  in  fast,  and  the 
signal  "Prepare  to  take  the  ice,"  flying  from  the  Commo 
dore's  mast-head.  We  did  take  it,  as  the  pack  came  against 
the  land-floe,  with  Cape  Walker  about  abreast  of  us ;  and,  in 
a  few  hours,  the  "  nip"  took  place.  The  "  Intrepid"  and 
"Pioneer"  having  gone  into  a  natural  dock  together,  were 
secure  enough  until  the  projecting  points  of  the  land-floe  gave 
way,  when  the  weight  of  the  pressure  came  on  the  vessels, 
and  then  we  felt,  for  the  first  time,  a  Melville  Bay  squeeze. 
The  vessels,  lifted  by  the  floes,  shot  alternately  ahead  of  one 
another,  and  rode  down  the  floe  for  some  fifty  yards,  until 
firmly  imbedded  in  ice,  which,  in  many  layers,  formed  a 
perfect  cradle  under  their  bottoms.  We,  of  course,  were 
passive  spectators,  beyond  taking  the  precaution  to  have  a 
few  men  following  the  vessels  over  the  ice  with  two  or  three 
of  the  boats,  in  case  of  a  fatal  squeeze.  The  "  Sweet  little 
Cherub"  watched  over  the  steamers,  however,  and,  in  a  short 


XAR  WHALES.  59 

time,  the  pressure  transferred  itself  elsewhere.  Next  day 
showed  all  of  Her  Majesty's  squadron  beset  in  Melville  Bay. 
The  gale  had  abated,  but  an  immense  body  of  ice  had  come 
in  from  the  S.  W.  To  the  N.  W.  a  dark  haze  showed  a 
water  sky,  but  from  it  we  must  have  been  at  least  forty 
miles.  Between  us  and  the  shore,  a  land-floe,  of  some  thirty 
miles  in  width,  followed  the  sinuosities  of  the  coast-line. 
Bergs  here  and  there  strewed  its  surface ;  but  the  major  part 
of  them  formed  what  is  called  a  "  reef,"  in  the  neighbour 
hood  of  Devil's  Thumb,  denoting  either  a  bank  or  shoal 
water  in  that  direction. 

A  powerful  sunlight  obliged  spectacles  of  every  shade, 
size,  and  description  to  be  brought  into  use;  and,  as  we 
walked  about  from  ship  to  ship,  a  great  deal  of  joking  and 
facctiousness  arose  out  of  the  droll  appearance  of  some  in 
dividuals, — utility,  and  not  beauty,  was,  however,  generally 
voted  the  great  essential  in  our  bachelor  community  ;  and 
good  looks,  by  general  consent,  put  away  for  a  future  day. 
Great  reflection,  as  well  as  refraction,  existed  for  the  time  we 
remained  beset  in  this  position ;  and  the  refraction  on  one 
occasion  enabled  us  to  detect  Captain  Penny's  brigs  as  well 
as  the  whalers,  although  they  must  have  been  nearly  thirty 
miles  distant. 

The  ice  slackening  a  little  formed  what  are  called  "  holes 
of  water,"  and  in  these  we  soon  observed  a  shoal  of  nar- 
whales,  or  unicorn  fish,  to  be  blowing  and  enjoying  them- 
selves.  By  extraordinary  luck,  one  of  the  officers  of  the 
"  Intrepid,"  in  firing  at  them,  happened  to  hit  one  in  a  vital 
part,  and  the  brute  was  captured ;  his  horn  forming  a  hand 
some  trophy  for  the  sportsman.  The  result  of  this  was,  that 
the  unfortunate  narwhales  got  no  peace  ;  directly  they  showed 
themselves,  a  shower  of  balls  was  poured  into  them. 

This  fish  is  found  throughout  the  fishing-ground  of  Baffin's 


60  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Bay,  but  is  not  particularly  sought  for  by  our  people.  The 
Esquimaux  kill  it  with  ease,  and  its  flesh  and  skin  are  eaten 
as  luxuries;  the  latter  especially,  as  an  anti-scorbutic,  even 
by  the  whalers,  and  some  of  our  crews  partook  of  the  ex 
tremely  greasy-looking  substance, — one  man  vowing  it  was 
very  like  chestnuts!  (?)  I  did  not  attempt  to  judge  for  my 
self;  but  I  have  no  doubt  it  would  form  good  food  to  a  really 
hungry  person.  The  narwhales  vary  in  size,  ranging  some 
times,  I  am  told,  to  fourteen  feet;  the  horns,  of  which  I  saw 
a  great  many  at  Whale-Fish  Jsles,  were  from  three  feet  to 
seven  feet  in  length.  The  use  of  this  horn  is  a  matter  of 
controversy  amongst  the  fishermen:  it  is  almost  too  blunt 
for  offence,  and  its  point,  for  about  four  inches,  is  always 
found  well  polished,  whilst  the  remainder  of  it  is  usually 
covered  with  slime  and  greenish  sea-weed.  Some  maintain 
that  it  roots  up  food  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  with  this 
horn  ;  others,  that  it  probes  the  clefts  and  fissures  of  the 
floating  ice  with  it,  to  drive  out  the  small  fish,  which  are  said 
to  be  its  prey,  and  which  instinctively  take  shelter  there  from 
their  pursuers.  The  body  of  the  narwhale  is  covered  with  a 
layer  of  blubber,  of  about  two  inches  in  thickness.  This  was 
removed,  and  carefully  boiled  down  to  make  oil  ;  and  the 
krang,  or  carcass,  was  left  as  a  decoy  to  molliemauks  and 
ivory-gulls, — these  latter  birds  having  for  the  first  time  been 
seen  by  me  to-day.  They  are  decidedly  the  most  graceful 
of  sea-birds;  and,  from  the  exquisite  purity  of  their  plumage 
when  settled  on  a  piece  of  ice  or  snow,  it  required  a  practised 
eye  to  detect  them.  Not  so  the  voracious  and  impertinent 
mollies — the  Procellaria  of  naturalists.  Their  very  ugliness 
appeared  to  give  them  security,  and  they  are,  in  the  North, 
what  the  vulture  and  carrion  crow  are  in  more  pleasant  climes 
— Nature's  scavengers. 

The  14th  and  15th  of  July  found  us  still  firmly  beset,  and 


ANXIETY  AND  HOPE.  61 

sorely  was  our  patience  taxed.  In-shore  of  us,  a  firm  un 
broken  sheet  of  ice  extended  to  the  land,  some  fifteen  miles 
distant.  Across  it,  in  various  directions,  like  hedge-rows  in 
an  English  landscape,  ran  long  lines  of  piled-up  hummocks, 
formed  during  the  winter  by  some  great  pressure  ;  and  on 
the  surface,  pools  of  water  and  sludge*  broke  the  general 
monotony  of  the  aspect. 

The  striking  mass  of  rock,  known  as  Melville's  Monu 
ment,  was  clear  of  snow,  because  it  was  too  steep  for  ice  to 
adhere  ;  but  every  where  else  huge  domes  of  white  showed 
where  Greenland  lay,  except  where  Cape  Walker  thrust  its 
black  cliff  through  the  glacier  to  scowl  upon  us. 

Tantalus  never  longed  for  water  more  than  we  did.  Those 
who  have  been  so  beset  can  alone  tell  of  the  watchfulness  and 
headaching  for  water.  Now  to  the  mast-head  with  straining 
eyes, — then  arguing  and  inferring,  from  the  direction  of  wind 
and  tide,  that  water  must  come.  Others  strolling  over  to  a 
hole,  and  with  fragments  of  wood,  or  a  measure,  endeavour 
ing  to  detect  that  movement  in  the  floes  by  which  liberation 
was  to  be  brought  about.  Some  sage  in  uniform,  perhaps, 
tries  to  prove,  by  the  experience  of  former  voyages,  that  the 
lucky  day  is  passed  or  close  at  hand ;  whilst  wiser  ones  con 
sole  themselves  with  exclaiming,  "That,  at  any  rate,  we  are, 
as  yet,  before  Sir  James  Ross's  expedition, — both  in  time 
and  position." 

The  16th  of  July  showed  more  favourable  symptoms, 
and  Captain  Penny  was  seen  working  for  a  lane  of  water,  a 
long  way  in-shore  of  us.  In  the  night,  a  general  disruption 
of  the  fixed  ice  was  taking  place  in  the  most  marvellous 
manner;  and,  by  the  next  morning,  there  was  nearly  as 
much  water  as  there  had  before  been  ice.  The  two  steamers, 

*  Is  the  term  applied  to  half-thawed  ice  or  snow. 


62  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

firmly  imbedded  in  a  mass  of  ice,  many  miles  in  circumfer 
ence,  were  drifting  rapidly  to  the  southward,  whilst  the  two 
ships,  afloat  in  a  large  space  of  water  and  fastened  to  the  floe, 
awaited  our  liberation. 

The  prospect  of  a  separation  from  the  ships,  when  un 
avoidable,  in  no  wise  depressed  the  spirits  of  my  colleague 
of  the  "  Intrepid,"  nor  myself.  Like  the  man  who  lost  a 
scolding  wife,  we  felt  if  it  must  be  so,  it  was  for  the  best, 
and  we  were  resigned.  But  it  was  not  to  be;  the  "In 
trepid"  with  her  screw,  and  the  "  Pioneer"  with  gunpowder, 
which,  for  the  first  time,  was  now  applied,  shook  the  frag 
ments  apart  in  which  we  were  beset,  and  again  we  laid  hold 
of  our  mentors.  A  thick  fog  immediately  enveloped  us,  and 
in  it  we  got  perfectly  puzzled,  took  a  wrong  lead,  and,  tum 
bling  into  a  perfect  cul  de  sac,  made  fast,  to  await  a  break  in 
the  weather.  The  18th  of  July,  from  the  same  cause,  a 
dense  fog,  was  a  lost  day,  and  next  day  Penny  again  caught 
us  up.  He  reported  the  whalers  to  have  given  up  all  idea 
of  a  Northern  fishery  this  season.  Alas !  for  the  many 
friends  who  will  be  disappointed  in  not  receiving  letters ! 
and  alas !  for  the  desponding,  who  will  croak  and  sigh  at  the 
whalers  failing  to  get  across  the  bay,  believing,  therefore, 
that  we  shall  fail  likewise. 

Penny  had  passed  a  long  way  inside  of  the  spot  the 
steamers  had  been  beset  and  nipped  in ;  and  he  witnessed  a 
sight  which,  although  constantly  taking  place,  is  seldom  seen 
— the  entire  dissolution  of  an  enormous  iceberg. 

This  iceberg  had  been  observed  by  our  squadron,  and 
remarked  for  its  huge  size  and  massiveness,  giving  good 
promise  of  resisting  a  century  of  sun  and  thaw.  All  on 
board  the  "  Lady  Franklin"  described  as  a  most  wonderful 
spectacle  this  iceberg,  without  any  warning,  falling,  as  it 
were,  to  pieces;  the  sea  around  it  resembled  a  seething 


DISSOLUTION  OF  AN  ICEBERG.  63 

caldron,  from  the  violent  plunging  of  the  masses,  as  they 
broke  and  rebroke  in  a  thousand  pieces !  The  floes,  torn 
up  for  a  distance  of  ten  miles  by  the  violent  action  of  the 
rollers,  threatened,  by  the  manner  the  ice  was  agitated,  to 
destroy  any  vessel  that  had  been  amongst  it;  and  they  con 
gratulated  themselves,  on  being  sufficiently  removed  from 
the  scene  of  danger,  to  see  without  incurring  any  immediate 
risk. 

The  fog  again  lifted  for  a  short  time.  Penny  went  in  my 
"  crow's  nest,"  as  well  as  into  the  "  Resolute's,"  and  soon 
gave  us  the  disagreeable  intelligence,  that  the  land-floe  had 
broken  up,  and  we  were  in  the  pack,  instead  of  having,  as  we 
had  fancied.  "  fast  ice"  to  hold  on  by  ;  and,  as  he  remarked, 
"  We  can  do  nothing  but  push  for  it ; — it's  all  broken  ice, 
and  push  we  must,  in-shore,  or  else  away  we  go  with  the 
loose  floes  !" 

With  this  feeling  the  six  vessels  started  in  the  night,  in  an 
indifferent  and  cross  lead,  we  towing  the  "  Resolute"  and 
"Lady  Franklin," — the  "Intrepid,"  with  "Assistance"  and 
"  Sophia,"  astern.  Breaking  through  two  light  barriers  of 
ice,  the  prospect  was  improving ;  and,  as  they  said  from  the 
"  crow's  nest,"  that  eight  miles  of  water  was  beyond  a  neck 
of  ice  ahead,  I  cast  off  the  vessel  in  tow  to  charge  the  ice  ;  at 
first  she  did  well,  but  the  floe  was  nearly  six  feet  thick,  hard 
and  sound,  and  a  pressure  on  it  besides.  The  "  Pioneer"  was 
again  caught,  and  the  squadron  anchored  to  the  floe  to  await 
an  opening.  A  few  hours  afterwards  we  were  liberated,  and, 
moving  the  vessel  as  far  astern  as  we  could,  the  fact  was  duly 
reported  to  the  senior  officer ;  but,  as  the  road  ahead  was  not 
open,  no  change  of  position  could  be  made.  On  the  morning 
of  the  20th  we  were  again  beset,  and  a  south  gale  threatened 
to  increase  the  pressure ;  escape  was,  however,  impossible, 
and  "  Fear  not,  but  trust  in  Providence"  is  a  necessary  motto 


64  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

for  Arctic  seamen.  My  faith  in  this  axiom'  was  soon  put  to 
the  proof.  After  a  short  sleep  I  was  called  on  deck,  as  the 
vessel  was  suffering  from  great  pressure.  My  own  senses 
soon  made  it  evident ;  every  timber  and  plank  was  cracking 
and  groaning,  the  vessel  was  thrown  considerably  over  on  her 
side,  and  lifted  bodily,  the  bulkheads  cracking,  and  treenails 
and  bolts  breaking  with  small  reports.  On  reaching  the 
deck,  I  saw  indeed  that  the  poor  "  Pioneer"  was  in  sad  peril ; 
the  deck  was  arching  with  the  pressure  on  her  sides,  the  scup 
per-pieces  were  turning  up  out  of  the  mortices,  and  a  quiver 
of  agony  wrung  my  craft's  frame  from  stem  to  taffrail,  whilst 
the  floe,  as  if  impatient  to  overwhelm  its  victim,  had  piled  up 
as  high  as  the  bulwark  in  many  places. 

The  men  who,  whaler-fashion,  had,  without  orders  I  after 
wards  learnt,  brought  their  clothes  on  deck,  ready  to  save 
their  little  property,  stood  in  knots,  waiting  for  directions 
from  the  officers,  who?  with  anxious  eye,  watched  the  floe- 
edge  as  its  ground  passed  the  side,  to  see  whether  the  strain 
was  easing;  suddenly  it  did  so,  and  we  were  safe  !  But  a  deep 
dent  in  the  "  Pioneer's"  side,  extending  for  some  forty  feet, 
and  the  fact,  as  we  afterwards  learnt,  of  twenty-one  timbers 
being  broken  upon  one  side,  proved  that  her  trial  had  been 
a  severe  one. 

Again  had  the  ice  come  in  upon  us  from  the  S.  W.,  and 
nothing  but  a  steady,  watchful  progress  through  the  pack  was 
left  to  our  squadron,  as  well  as  Penny's.  But  I  shall  not 
weary  the  reader  with  the  dry  detail  of  our  every-day 
labours, — their  success  or  futility.  Keenly  and  anxiously 
did  we  take  advantage  of  every  move  in  the  ice,  between 
the  20th  and  31st  July,  yet,  not  seven  miles  in  the  right 
direction  was  made  good;  the  first  of  August  found  us  doubt 
ing,  considerably,  the  prospect  of  reaching  Lancaster  Sound 
by  a  northern  passage;  and  Capt.  Penny  decided,  if  the 


"PIONEER"  NIPPED.  65 

water  approached  him  from  the  south,  to  strike  to  the 
westward  in  a  ]ower  latitude. 

The  ships — generally  the  "Resolute" — kept  the  lead  in 
our  heaving  and  warping  operation  through  the  pack ;  and, 
leaving  a  small  portion  of  the  crews  to  keep  the  other  vessels 
close  up  under  her  stern,  the  majority  of  the  officers  and  men 
laboured  at  the  headmost  ship,  to  move  her  through  the  ice. 
Heaving  ahead  with  stout  hawsers,  blasting  with  gunpowder, 
cutting  with  ice-saws,  and  clipping  with  ice-chisels,  was  per- 
severingly  carried  on  ;  but  the  progress  fell  far  short  of  the 
labour  expended,  and  the  bluff  bow  slipped  away  from  the 
nip  instead  of  wedging  it  open.  Warping  the  "  Resolute" 
through  a  barrier  of  ice  by  lines  out  of  her  hawse-holes,  put 
me  in  mind  of  trying  to  do  the  same  with  a  cask,  by  a  line 
through  the  bung-hole  :  she  slid  and  swerved  every  way  but 
the  right  one,  ahead ;  I  often  saw  her  bring  dead  up,  as  if  a 
wall  had  stopped  her.  After  a  search,  some  one  would 
exclaim.  "  Here  is  the  piece  that  jams  her !"  and  a  knock 
with  a  two-pound  chisel  would  bring  up  a  piece  of  ice  two  or 
three  inches  thick  !  In  short,  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  us  soon 
learnt  to  see,  that  the  fine  bow  was  the  one  to  get  ahead  in 
these  regions ;  and  the  daily  increasing  advantage  which 
Penny  had  over  us,  was  a  proof  which  the  most  obstinate 
could  not  dispute. 

I  often  thought  how  proud  our  countrymen  would  be  of 
their  seamen,  could  they  have  looked  on  the  scene  of  busy 
energy  and  activity  displayed  in  the  solitude  of  Melville 
Bay  : — the  hearty  song,  the  merry  laugh,  and  zealous 
labours  of  the  crew;  day  after  day  the  same  difficulties 
to  contend  with,  yet  day  after  day  met  with  fresh  resolu 
tion  and  new  resources ;  a  wide  horizon  of  ice,  no  sea  in 
sight,  \et  every  foot  gained  to  the  northward  was  talked  of 
with  satisfaction  and  delight ;  men  and  officers  vicing  with 


66  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

one  another  in  laborious  duties,  the  latter  especially,  finding 
amongst  a  body  of  seamen,  actuated  by  such  noble  and 
enthusiastic  feelings,  no  necessity  to  fear  an  infringement 
of  their  dignity.  The  etiquette  of  the  quarter-deck  was 
thrown  on  one  side  for  the  good  of  the  common  cause  ; 
and  on  every  side,  whether  at  the  capstan,  at  the  track-line, 
hauling,  heaving,  or  cutting,  the  officer  worked  as  hard  as  the 
seamen, — each  was  proud  of  the  other,  and  discipline  suffered 
nought,  indeed  improved  :  for  here  Jack  had  both  precept 
and  example. 

If  we  had  our  labours,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  we 
had  also  our  leisure  and  amusements,  usually  at  night, — a 
polar  night  robed  in  light, — then,  indeed,  boys  fresh  from 
school  never  tossed  care  more  to  the  winds  than  did  the  ma 
jority  of  us.  Games,  which  men  in  any  other  class  of  society 
would  vote  childish,  were  entered  into  with  a  zest  which 
neither  gray  hairs  nor  stout  bodies  in  any  degree  had  damped. 
Shouts  of  laughter  !  roars  of  "Not  fair,  not  fair!  run  again  !" 
"  Well  done,  well  done !"  from  individuals  leaping  and  clap 
ping  their  hands  with  excitement,  arose  from  many  a  merry 
ring,  in  which  "  rounders,"  with  a  cruelly  hard  ball,  was  being 
played.  In  other  directions  the  fiddle  and  clarionet  were 
hard  at  work,  keeping  pace  with  heels  which  seemed  likely 
never  to  cease  dancing,  evincing  more  activity  than  grace. 
Here  a  sober  few  were  heaving  quoits,  there  a  knot  of  Solo 
mons  talked  of  the  past,  and  argued  as  to  the  future,  whilst 
in  the  distance  the  sentimental  ones  strolled  about,  thinking 
no  doubt  of  some  one's  goodness  and  beauty,  in  honour  of 
whom,  like  true  knights,  they  had  come  thus  far  to  win 
bright  honour  from  the  "  Giant  of  the  North." 

Sometimes  a  bear  would  come  in  sight,  and  then  his  risk 
of  being  shot  was  not  small,  for  twenty  keen  hands  were  out 
after  the  skin :  it  had  been  promised  as  a  gage  tfamour  by 


LIEUT.  HALKETTS  BOAT.  67 

one  to  his  betrothed ;  to  a  sister  by  another ;  a  third  in 
tended  to  open  the  purse-strings  of  a  hard-hearted  parent  by 
such  a  proof  of  regard  ;  and  not  a  few  were  to  go  to  the  First 
Lord  with  it,  in  exchange  for  a  piece  of  parchment,  if  he 
would  not  object  to  the  arrangement. 

Every  day  our  sportsmen  brought  home  a  fair  proportion 
of  loons  and  little  auks,  the  latter  bird  flying  in  immense 
flocks  to  all  the  neighbouring  pools  of  water,  and  to  kill  ten 
or  twelve  of  them  at  a  shofe  when  settled  to  feed,  was  not 
considered  as  derogatory  to  the  character  of  a  Nimrod,  where 
the  question  was  a  purely  gastronomic  one.  I  found  in  my 
shooting  excursions  an  India-rubber  boat,  constructed  upon 
a  plan  of  my  dear  friend  Peter  Halkett,  to  be  extremely  con 
venient;  in  it  I  floated  down  the  cracks  of  water,  landed  on 
floe-pieces,  crossed  them  dragging  my  boat,  and  again 
launched  into  water  in  search  of  my  feathered  friends.  At 
the  Whale-Fish  Islands,  much  to  the  delight  of  my  Esquimaux 
friends,  I  had  paddled  about  in  the  inflated  boat,  and  its  por 
tability  seemed  fully  to  be  appreciated  by  them,  though  they 
found  fault  with  the  want  of  speed,  in  which  it  fell  far  short 
of  their  own  fairy  craft. 

The  separation  of  the  squadron,  occasioned  by  either  mis 
take  or  accident,  detained  us  for  a  few  days  in  the  beginning 
of  August,  in  order  that  junction  might  again  take  place. 
Penny,  by  dint  of  hard  tracking  and  heaving,  gained  seven 
miles  upon  us.  For  several  days  a  schooner,  a  ketch,  and  a 
single-masted  craft,  had  been  seen  far  to  the  southward  ;  they 
were  now  rapidly  closing,  and  we  made  them  out  to  be  the 
"Felix,"  Sir  J.  Ross,  with  his  boat  towing  astern,  and  the 
"  Prince  Albert,"  belonging  to  Lady  Franklin,  in  charge  of 
Commander  Forsyth. 

August  5th. — Plenty  of  water.     The   "  Assistance"    re- 


68  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

ceived  orders  to  proceed  (when  her  consort  the  "  Intrepid" 
joined  her)  to  the  north  shore  of  Lancaster  Sound,  examine 
it  and  Wellington  Channel,  and  having  assured  themselves 
that  Franklin  had  not  gone  up  by  that  route  to  the  N.  W., 
to  meet  us  between  Cape  Hotham  and  Cape  Walker.  I  re 
gretted  that  the  shore  upon  which  the  first  traces  would 
undoubtedly  be  found,  should  have  fallen  to  another's  share : 
however,  as  there  seemed  a  prospect  of  separation,  and  by 
doing  so,  progress,  I  was  too  rejoiced  to  give  it  a  second 
thought;  and  that  the  "Assistance"  would  do  her  work  well, 
was  apparent  to  all  who  witnessed  the  zeal  and  skill  dis 
played  by  her  people  in  the  most  ordinary  duty. 

Taking  in  our  ice-anchors,  and  getting  hold  of  the  "  Reso 
lute,"  1  bid  rny  friends  of  the  "Assistance"  good-bye,,  thinking 
that  advance  was  now  likely :  this  hope  soon  failed  me,  for 
again  we  made  fast,  and  again  we  all  waited  for  one  another. 

Amongst  many  notes  of  the  superiority  of  steam  over 
manual  labour  in  the  ice,  I  will  extract  two  made  to-day. 

The  "  Assistance"  was  towed  by  the  "  Intrepid"  in  fifteen 
minutes,  a  distance  which  it  took  the  "  Resolute,"  followed 
by  the  "  Pioneer,"  from  10  A.  M.  to  3  p.  M.  to  track  and  warp. 
The  "Intrepid"  steamed  to  a  berg  in  ten  minutes,  and  got 
past  it.  The  rest  of  the  squadron,  by  manual  labour,  suc 
ceeded  in  accomplishing  the  same  distance  in  three  hours  and 
a  half,  namely,  from  7  P.  M.  to  10  30  P.  M.,  by  which  time 
the  ice  had  closed  ahead,  and  we  had  to  make  fast. 

August  Qtk  and  7th. — Very  little  progress  :  and  a  squadron 
of  blank  faces  showed  that  there  were  many  taking  a  deep 
and  anxious  interest  in  the  state  of  affairs.  The  remark  that 
Sir  James  Ross's  expedition  was  by  this  time,  in  1848,  in  a 
better  position  than  ourselves,  and  only  found  time  to  secure 
winter  quarters  at  Leopold  Island,  was  constantly  heard  : 


CHARGING   THE  WE.  69 

there  was,  in  fact,  but  one  hope  left, — we  had  steam,  and 
there  was  yet  thirty  days  of  open  navigation. 

Friday  the  9th  of  August  at  last  arrived.  Captain  Penny's 
squadron  was  gone  out  of  sight  in  a  lane  of  water  towards 
Cape  York.  The  schooner  and  ketch  were  passing  us :  cau 
tion  yielded  to  the  grim  necessity  of  a  push  for  our  very 
honour's  sake  :  the  ship  was  dropped  out  of  the  nip,  the 
"  Pioneer"  again  allowed  to  put  her  wedge-bow,  aided  by 
steam,  to  the  crack.  In  one  hour  we  were  past  a  barrier 
which  had  checked  our  advance  for  three  long  weary  days. 
All  was  joy  and  excitement :  the  steamers  themselves 
seemed  to  feel  and  know  their  work,  and  exceeded  even  our 
sanguine  expectations  ;  and,  to  every  one's  delight,  we  were 
this  evening  allowed  to  carry  on  a  system  of  ice-breaking 
which  will  doubtless,  in  future  Arctic  voyages,  be  carried  out 
with  great  success.  For  instance,  a  piece  of  a  floe,  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  broad,  and  three  feet  thick,  prevented 
our  progress :  the  weakest  and  narrowest  part  being  ascer 
tained,  the  ships  were  secured  as  close  as  possible  without 
obstructing  the  steam  vessels,  the  major  part  of  the  crews 
being  despatched  to  the  line  where  the  cut  was  to  be^  made, 
with  tools  and  gunpowder  for  blasting,  and  plenty  of  short 
hand-lines  and  claws. 

The  "  Pioneer"  and  "  Intrepid,"  then,  in  turn  rushed  at  the 
floe,  breaking  their  way  through  it  until  the  impetus  gained 
in  the  open  water  was  lost  by  the  resistance  of  the  ice.  The 
word  "  Stop  her  !  Back  turn,  easy  !"  was  then  given,  and  the 
screw  went  astern,  carrying  with  her  tons  of  ice,  by  means 
of  numerous  lines  which  the  blue-jackets,  who  attended  on 
the  forecastle,  and  others  on  broken  pieces  of  the  floe,  held 
on  by.  As  the  one  vessel  went  astern,  the  other  flew  ahead 
to  her  work.  The  operation  was,  moreover,  aided  by  the  ex 
plosions  of  powder ;  and  altogether  the  scene  was  a  highly 


70  ARGTW  JOURNAL. 

interesting  and  instructive  one :  it  was  a  fresh  laurel  in  the 
screw's  wreath  ;  and  the  gallant  "  Intrepid"  gave  a  coup-de- 
grace  to  the  mass,  which  sent  it  coach-wheeling  round,  as  it  is 
termed  ;  and  the  whole  of  the  squadron  taking  the  nip,  as 
Arctic  ships  should  do,  we  were  next  morning  in  the  true 
lead,  and  our  troubles  in  Melville  Bay  were  at  an  end. 

It  was  now  the  10th  of  August.  By  heavens  !  I  shall 
never  forget  the  light-heartedness  of  that  day.  Forty  days 
had  we  been  beset  in  the  ice,  and  one  day  of  fair  application 
of  steam,  powder,  and  men,  and  the  much-talked-of  bay  was 
mastered.  There  was,  however,  no  time  to  be  lost.  The  air 
was  calm,  the  water  was  smooth ;  the  land-floe  (for  we  had 
again  reached  it)  lay  on  the  one  hand — on  the  other  the  pack, 
from  whose  grip  we  had  just  escaped,  still  threatened  us. 
Penny  had  been  out  of  sight  some  time,  and  the  "  Felix"  and 
"  Prince  Albert"  were  nearly  ten  miles  ahead  ! 

Gentle  Reader,  I'll  bore  you  no  longer  !  We  had  calm 
water  and  steam, — the  ships  in  tow, — our  progress  rapid, — 
the  "  Albert"  and  "  Felix"  were  caught, — their  news  joy 
fully  received, — and  they  taken  in  tow  likewise.  The  dates 
from  England  were  a  month  later  than  our  own :  all  our 
friends  were  well, — all  hopeful ;  and,  putting  those  last  dear 
letters  away,  to  be  read  and  re-read  during  the  coming  winter, 
we  pushed  on,  and  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  Several 
nights  before  we  escaped  from  the  pack  the  frost  had  been 
intense,  and  good  sliding  was  to  be  had  on  the  pools  formed 
by  summer  heat  on  the  floes.  The  bay-ice*  was  forming 
fast,  and  did  not  all  melt  during  the  day.  The  birds  had 
finished  breeding;  and,  with  the  fresh  millions  that  had  been 
added  to  their  numbers,  were  feeding  up  preparatory  to  their 

*  First  winter  ice,  or  young  ice,  is  called  hay-ice,  from  an  old 
Yorkshire  word  bay,  to  bend. — Author. 


DETENTION  OFF  CAPS  YORK.  71 

departure  south.  The  sun  was  sweeping,  nightly,  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  northern  horizon.  Night  once  set  in,  we  knew 
full  well  the  winter  would  come  with  giant  strides.  "Push 
on,  good  screw  !"  was  on  every  one's  lip ;  and  anxiety  was 
seen  on  every  brow,  if  by  accident,  or  for  any  purpose,  the 
propeller  ceased  to  move.  "  What's  the  matter]  All  right, 
1  hope !"  Then  a  chuckle  of  satisfaction  at  being  told  that 
"  nothing  was  amiss  !'' 

Time  did  not  allow  us,  or  I  verily  believe  we  might  have 
killed  tons  of  birds  between  Cape  Walker  and  Cape  York, 
principally  little  auks  (Alca  alle) ; — they  actually  blackened 
the  edge  of  the  floe  for  miles.  I  had  seen,  on  the  coast  of 
Peru,  near  the  great  Guano  mines,  what  I  thought  was  an 
inconceivable  number  of  birds  congregated  together;  but 
they  were  as  nothing  compared  with  the  myriads  that  we 
disturbed  in  our  passage,  and  their  stupid  tameness  would 
have  enabled  us  to  kill  as  many  as  we  pleased. 

On  August  13th,  Cape  York  being  well  in  sight,  Penny's 
brigs  were  again  in  view;  and  whilst  the  "Intrepid"  and 
"Assistance,"  with  the  "Prince  Albert,"  communicated 
with  the  natives  of  Cape  York,  the  "Pioneer"  pushed  on, 
and  soon  passed  the  brigs,  who,  although  they  knew  full  well 
that  the  late  arrivals  from  England  had  letters  for  them, 
were  to  be  seen  pushing  tooth  and  nail,  to  get  to  the  west 
ward. 

Slow — as  slow  as  possible — we  steamed  all  day  along  the 
"  Crimson  Cliffs  of  Beverley."  The  interview  with  the  natives 
of  Cape  York,  alas !  was  to  cost  us  much.  My  frame  of  mind 
at  the  time  was  far  from  heavenly ;  for  "  Large  Water"  was 
ahead,  our  squadron  many  a  long  mile  from  its  work;  and  I 
was  neither  interested,  at  the  time,  in  Arctic  Highlanders  or 
"Crimson  Snow!"  In  the  evening  the  "Assistance"  joined 
us;  and  I  was  told  that  "important  information  had  been 


72  ARCTIC  JOURNAL, 

gained."  We  were  to  turn  back ;  and  the  "  Intrepid"  went 
in  chase  of  Penny,  to  get  the  aid  of  his  interpreter,  Mr. 
Petersen. 

I  remember  being  awoke  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  14th  of  August,  and  being  told  a  hobgoblin  story, 
which  made  me  rub  my  eyes,  and  doubt  my  own  hearing. 
What  I  thought  of  it  is  neither  here  nor  there.  Suffice  it 
that  Adam  Beck — may  he  be  branded  for  a  liar  ! — succeeded, 
this  day,  in  misleading  a  large  number  of  Her  Majesty's 
officers  (as  his  attested  document  proves),  and  in  detaining, 
for  two  days,  the  squadrons  in  search  of  Franklin.  No  one 
with  common  perception,  who  witnessed  the  interview  on 
our  deck  between  Mr.  Petersen,  Adam  Beck,  and  our  new 
shipmate,  the  Esquimaux  from  Cape  York,  could  fail  to  per 
ceive  that  Mr.  P.  and  the  Cape  York  native  understood  one 
another  much  better  than  the  latter  could  the  vile  Adam 
Beck ;  and  had  I  had  any  doubts  upon  the  subject,  they 
would  have  been  removed  when  I  learnt  that  Petersen  had 
seen  and  communicated  with  these  very  natives  before  our 
squadron  came  up,  and  that  no  such  bloody  tale  had  been 
told  him  ;  in  fact,  it  was  the  pure  coinage  of  Adam  Beck's 
brain,  cunningly  devised  to  keep,  at  any  rate,  his  own  ship 
on  a  coast  whither  he  could  escape  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
his  home  in  South  Greenland. 

The  fact  of  the  "North  Star"  having  wintered  last  year 
in  Wolstenholme  Sound,  or  "Petowack,"  was  elicited,  and 
that  the  natives  had  been  on  board  of  her.  The  "  Assistance" 
and  "Intrepid,"  therefore,  remained  to  visit  that  neighbour 
hood,  whilst  we  proceeded  to  the  south  shore  of  Lancaster 
Sound,  touching,  as  had  been  pre-arranged,  at  Pond's  Bay 
and  Cape  Possession. 

Steaming  along  the  Crimson  Cliffs  for  a  second  time,  we 
left  the  "  Lady  Franklin"  and  "  Sophia,"  in  a  stark  calm,  to 


THE   WEST  WATER.  73 

do  their  best.  Fewer  ships,  the  faster  progress ;  and  heartily 
did  all  cheer  when,  at  midnight,  we  turned  to  the  N.  W., 
leaving  the  second  division  to  do  their  work  in  Wolstenholme 
Sound.  So  ended  the  memorable  14th  of  August :  it  will 
be,  doubtless,  remembered  by  many  with  far  from  pleasant 
feelings;  and  some  who  have  been  "gulled"  in  England  may 
thank  Mr.  Petersen  that  a  carrier-pigeon  freighted  with  a 
cock-and-bull  story  of  blood,  fire,  wreck,  and  murder,  was 
not  despatched  on  that  memorable  day. 

The  15th  we  struck  westward,  that  is,  the  "  Pioneer," 
with  "  Resolute"  and  "  Prince  Albert"  in  tow.  After  four 
hours  of  very  intricate  navigation,  called  "  reeving  through 
the  rjttck,"  we  reached  the  West  Water, — a  wide  ocean  of 
water  without  one  piece  of  floe-ice,  and  very  few  icebergs. 
The  change  was  wonderful — incredible.  Here  was  nothing 
but  water;  and  we  were  almost  within  sight,  as  we  steered 
to  the  S.  W.,  of  the  spot  where,  for  forty-seven  days,  we  had 
had  nothing  but  ice  !  ice!  ice!  Let  us  hurry  on.  The  West 
Water  (as  usual  with  the  water  at  this  season  of  the  year) 
was  covered  with  fog :  in  it  we  steered.  The  "  Resolute,"  as 
a  capital  joke,  in  return  for  the  long  weary  miles  we  had 
towed  her,  set,  on  one  occasion,  all  studsails,  and  gave  us  a 
tow  for  four  hours.  When  off  the  mouth  of  Lancaster 
Sound,  the  "  Prince  Albert"  was  cast  off;  and  she  departed 
to  carry  out,  as  I  then  thought,  a  part  of  the  grand  scheme 
of  land  travelling  next  year,  into  which  it  became  almost 
daily  apparent  the  search  for  Franklin  would  resolve  itself. 
Already  had  night  commenced  ;  next  came  winter. 

Touching  at  Pond's  Bay  was  made  a  longer  proceeding 
than  was  ever  calculated  upon,  for  a  succession  of  thick  fogs 
and  strong  gales  prevented  the  "  Pioneer"  running  into  the 
bay,  or  ascertaining  whether  cairns  or  other  marks  had  been 
erected  on  the  coast. 

4 


74  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

The  21st  of  August  came  before  we  had  a  change  of 
weather  :  happily  it  then  took  place ;  and  the  "  Pioneer" 
(having  some  days  before  left  the  "  Resolute,"  to  cruise  off 
Possession  Bay)  entered  Pond's  Bay,  running  up  the  northern 
shore  towards  a  place  called  Button  Point. 

The  "  West  Land,"  as  this  side  of  Baffin's  Bay  is  called, 
strikes  all  seamen,  after  struggling  through  the  icy  region  of 
Melville  Bay,  as  being  verdant  and  comparatively  genial. 
We  all  thought  so,  and  feasted  our  eyes  on  valleys,  which,  in 
our  now  humbled  taste,  were  voted  beautiful, — at  any  rate 
there  were  signs  and  symptoms  of  verdure ;  and  as  we 
steered  close  along  the  coast,  green  and  russet  colours  were 
detected  and  pointed  out  with  delight.  The  bay  was  calm 
and  glassy,  and  the  sun  to  the  west,  sweeping  along  a  water 
horizon,  showed  pretty  plainly  that  Pond's  Bay,  like  a  good 
many  more  miscalled  bays  of  this  region,  was  nothing  more 
than  the  bell-shaped  mouth  to  some  long  fiord  or  strait. 

One  of  my  ice-quartermasters,  a  highly  intelligent  seaman, 
assured  me  he  had  been  in  a  whale-boat  up  this  very  inlet, 
until  they  conjectured  themselves  to  be  fast  approaching  Ad 
miralty  Inlet ;  the  country  there  improved  much  in  appear 
ance,  and  in  one  place  they  found  abundance  of  natives,  deer, 
and  grass  as  high  as  his  knees.  I  landed  with  a  boat's  crew 
on  Button  Point.  The  natives  had  retired  into  the  interior  to 
kill  deer  and  salmon  :  this  they  are  in  the  habit  of  doing 
every  season  when  the  land  ice  breaks  up.  Numerous  un 
roofed  winter  habitations  and  carefully  secured  caches  of 
seal-blubber  proved  that  they  had  been  here  in  some  num 
bers,  and  would  return  to  winter  after  the  ice  had  again 
formed  in  the  bay,  and  the  seals  began  to  appear,  upon 
which  the  existence  of  the  Esquimaux  depends. 

On  first  landing  we  had  been  startled  by  observing  nu 
merous  cairns,  standing  generally  in  pairs  :  these  we  pulled 


LANCASTER  8OUMD.  75 

down  one  after  the  other,  and  examined  without  finding  any 
thing  in  them ;  and  it  was  only  the  accidental  discovery  by 
one  of  the  men  of  a  seal-blubber  cache,  which  showed  that 
the  cairns  were  merely  marks  by  which  the  Esquimaux,  on 
their  return  in  the  winter,  could  detect  their  stores. 

The  winter  abode  of  these  Esquimaux  appeared  to  be 
sunk  from  three  to  four  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ground : 
a  ring  of  stones,  a  few  feet  high,  were  all  the  vestiges  we 
saw.  No  doubt  they  completed  the  habitation  by  building 
a  house  of  snow  of  the  usual  dome  shape  over  the  stones  and 
sunken  floor.  Having  no  wood,  whale-bones  had  been  here 
substituted  for  rafters,  as  is  usual  along  the  whole  breadth 
of  the  American  coast-line  from  Behring's  Straits ;  but  many 
of  the  hovels  had  no  rafters.  On  the  whole  the  impression 
was,  that  the  natives  here  lived  in  a  state  of  much  greater 
barbarity  and  discomfort  than  those  we  had  seen  about  the 
Danish  settlements  on  the  opposite  shore. 

A  cairn  was  erected  by  us ;  a  record  and  some  letters 
deposited  for  the  natives  to  put  on  board  whalers  at  a  future 
season ;  and  having  placed  a  number  of  presents  for  the  poor 
creatures  in  the  different  huts,  and  on  the  caches,  we  hurried 
on  board  and  made  the  best  of  our  way  to  Possession  Bay, 
and  rejoined  the  "  Resolute,"  from  whom  we  learnt  that  the 
"  North  Star"  had  placed  a  record  there,  to  say,  that  after 
having  failed  to  cross  Baffin's  Bay  in  1849,  she  had  done  so 
in  1850,  and  had  gone  up  Lancaster  Sound  to  seek  the  "  En 
terprise"  and  "  Investigator,"  under  Sir  James  Ross,  they 
having,  as  we  knew,  meanwhile,  gone  hom-e,  been  paid  off, 
recommissioned,  and  were  now,  please  God,  in  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  by  way  of  Behring's  Straits. 

August  22rf,  1850. — The  "Resolute"  in  company,  and 
steering  a  course  up  Lancaster  Sound. 


76  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

The  great  gateway,  within  whose  portals  we  were  now 
fast  entering,  has  much  in  it  that  is  interesting  in  its  associa 
tions  to  an  English  seaman.  Across  its  mouth,  the  bold 
navigator  Baffin,  200  years  before,  had  steered,  pronounced  it 
a  sound,  and  named  it  after  the  Duke  of  Lancaster.  About 
thirty-five  years  ago  it  was  converted  into  a  bay  by  Sir  John 
Ross;  and  within  eighteen  months  afterwards,  Parry,  the 
prince  of  Arctic  navigators,  sailed  through  this  very  bay,  and 
discovered  new  lands  extending  half  of  the  distance  towards 
Behring's  Straits,  or  about  600  miles.  To  complete  the  re 
maining  600  miles  of  unknown  region,  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  his  140  gallant  followers  had  devoted  themselves, — with 
what  resolution,  with  what  devotion,  is  best  told  by  their 
long  absence  and  our  anxiety. 

The  high  and  towering  ranges  of  the  Byam  Martin  Moun 
tains  looked  down  upon  us  from  the  southern  sky,  between 
fast-passing  fog-banks  and  fitful  gusts  of  wind,  which  soon 
sobbed  themselves  into  a  calm,  and  steam,  as  usual,  became 
our  friend  :  with  it  the  "  Pioneer,"  towing  the  "  Resolute" 
astern,  steered  for  the  north  shore  of  Lancaster  Sound ;  and 
on  August  25th  we  were  off  Croker  Bay,  a  deep  indentation 
between  Cape  Warrender  and  Cape  Home.  The  clouds 
hung  too  heavily  about  the  land,  distant  as  we  were,  to  see 
more  than  the  bare  outline,  but  its  broken  configuration  gave 
good  hope  of  numerous  harbours,  fiords,  and  creeks.  From 
Cape  Home,  we  entered  on  a  new  and  peculiar  region  of 
limestone  formation,  lofty  and  tabular,  offering  to  the  sea 
board  cliffs  steep  and  escarped  as  the  imagination  can  picture 
to  be  possible.  By  the  beautiful  sketches  of  Parry's  officers, 
made  on  his  first  voyage,  we  easily  recognized  the  various 
headlands ;  the  north  shore  being  now  alone  in  view ;  and 
indeed,  except  the  mountains  in  the  interior,  we  saw  nothing 


ICEBERGS  AND   GLACIERS.  77 

more  of  the  south  shore  of  Lancaster  Sound  after  leaving 
Possession  Bay. 

Of  Powell  Inlet  we  saw  an  extensive  glacier  extending 
into  the  sound,  and  a  few  loose  'berg  pieces  floating  about. 
This  glacier  was  regarded  with  some  interest ;  for,  remark 
ably  enough,  it  is  the  last  one  met  with  in  sailing  westward 
to  Melville  Island. 

The  iceberg,  as  it  is  well  known,  is  the  creation  of  the 
glacier ;  and  where  land  of  a  nature  to  form  the  latter  does 
not  exist,  the  former  is  not  met  with. 

The  region  we  had  just  left  behind  us  is  the  true  home  of 
the  iceberg  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  There,  in  Baffin's 
Bay,  where  .the  steep  cliffs  of  cold  granitic  formation  frown 
over  waters  where  the  ordinary  "  deep  sea  lead-line"  fails  to 
find  bottom,  the  monarch  of  glacial  formations  floats  slowly 
from  the  ravine  which  has  been  its  birth-place,  until  fairly 
launched  in  the  profound  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  the 
course  of  many  years  is  carried  to  the  warmer  regions  of  the 
south,  to  assist  Nature  in  preserving  her  great  laws  of  equi 
librium  of  temperature  of  the  air  and  water. 

At  one  period  —  and  not  a  very  distant  one  either  — 
savans,  and,  amongst  others,  the  French  philosopher  St. 
Pierre,  believed  icebergs  to  be  the  accumulated  snow  and  ice 
of  ages,  which,  forming  at  the  poles,  detached  themselves 
from  the  parent  mass :  this,  as  they  then  thought,  had  no 
reference  to  the  existence  of  land  or  water.  Such  an  hy 
pothesis  for  some  time  gave  rise  to  ingenious  and  startling 
theories  as  to  the  effect  which  an  incessant  accumulation  of 
ice  would  have  on  the  globe  itself;  and  St.  Pierre  hinted  at 
the  possibility  of  the  huge  cupolas  of  ice,  which,  as  he  be 
lieved,  towered  aloft  in  the  cold  heavens  of  the  poles,  suddenly 
launching  towards  the  equator,  melting,  and  bringing  about  a 
second  deluge. 


78  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Had  the  immortal  Cook  been  aware  of  the  certainty  of 
land  being  close  to  him,  when,  in  the  Antarctic  regions,  he 
found  himself  amongst  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  icebergs  in  December,  1773 ;  he  who,  from  the  deck  of  a 
collier,  had  risen  to  be  the  Columbus  of  England,  might  have 
then  plucked  the  laurel  which  Sir  James  Ross  so  gallantly 
won  in  the  discovery  of  the  circumpolar  continent  of  Queen 
Victoria's  Land. 

On  every  side  of  the  southern  pole,  on  every  meridian  of 
the  great  South  Sea,  the  seaman  meets  icebergs.  Not  so  in 
the  north.  In  the  360  degrees  of  longitude,  which  intersects 
the  parallel  of  70  degrees  north  (about  which  parallel  the 
coasts  of  America,  Europe,  and  Asia  will  be  found  to  lie), 
icebergs  are  only  found  over  an  extent  of  some  55  degrees 
of  longitude,  and  this  is  immediately  in  and  about  Greenland 
and  Baffin's  Bay.  In  fact,  for  1375  miles  of  longitude  we 
have  icebergs,  and  then  for  7635  geographical  miles  none  are 
met  with.  This  interesting  fact  is,  in  my  opinion,  most 
cheering,  and  points  strongly  to  the  possibility  that  no  exten 
sive  land  exists  about  our  northern  pole, — a  supposition 
which  is  borne  out  by  the  fact,  that  the  vast  ice-fields  off 
Spitsbergen  show  no  symptoms  of  ever  having  been  in  con 
tact  with  land  or  gravel.  Of  course,  the  more  firmly  we  can 
bring  ourselves  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  an  ocean  road 
leading  to  Behring's  Straits,  the  better  heart  we  shall  feel  in 
searching  the  various  tortuous  channels  and  different  islands 
with  which,  doubtless,  Franklin's  route  has  been  beset.  It 
was  not,  therefore,  without  deep  interest  that  I  passed  the 
boundary  which  Nature  had  set  in  the  west  to  the  existence 
of  icebergs,  and  endeavoured  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the 
cause  of  such  a  phenomenon. 

Whilst  this  digression  upon  icebergs  has  taken  place,  the 
kind  reader  will  suppose  the  calm  to  have  ceased,  and  the 


A    GALE  IN  BARRO  W^S  STRAIT.  79 

"  Resolute"  and  "  Pioneer,"  under  sail  before  a  westerly 
wind,  to  be  running  from  the  table-land  on  the  north  shore 
of  Lancaster  Sound,  in  a  diagonal  direction  towards  Leopold 
Island.  On  the  26th  of  August,  Cape  York  gleamed  through 
an  angry  sky,  and  as  Regent's  Inlet  opened  to  the  southward, 
there  was  little  doubt  but  we  should  soon  be  caught  in  an 
Arctic  gale :  we,  however,  cared  little,  provided  there  was 
plenty  of  water  ahead,  though  of  that  there  appeared  strong 
reasons  for  entertaining  doubts,  as  both  the  temperature  of 
the  air  and  water  was  fast  falling. 

That  night — for  night  was  now  of  some  two  hours'  du 
ration — the  wind  piped  merrily,  and  we  rolled  most  cruelly ; 
the  long  and  narrow  "  Pioneer"  threatening  to  pitch  every 
spar  over  the  side,  and  refusing  all  the  manoeuvring  upon 
the  part  of  her  beshaken  officers  and  men  to  comfort  and 
quiet  her. 

A  poet,  who  had  not  been  fourteen  hours  in  the  cold,  and 
whose  body  was  not  racked  by  constant  gymnastic  exertion 
to  preserve  his  bones  from  fracture,  might  have  given  a 
beautiful  description  of  the  lifting  of  a  fierce  sky  at  about 
half-past  one  in  the  morning,  and  a  disagreeable  glimpse 
through  snow-storm  and  squall  of  a  bold  and  precipitous 
coast  not  many  miles  off,  and  ahead  of  us.  I  cannot  under 
take  to  do  so,  for  I  remember  feeling  far  from  poetical,  as, 
with  a  jerk  and  a  roll,  the  "  Pioneer,"  under  fore  and  aft 
canvas,  came  to  the  wind.  Fast  increasing  daylight  showed 
us  to  have  been  thrown  considerably  to  the  northward ;  and 
as  we  sailed  to  the  south  the  ice  showed  itself  in  far  from 
pleasing  proximity  under  the  lee — boiling,  for  so  the  edge  of 
a  pack  appears  to  do  in  a  gale  of  wind.  It  was  a  wild  sight ; 
but  we  felt  that,  at  any  rate,  it  was  optional  with  a  screw 
steamer  whether  she  ran  into  the  pack  or  kept  the  sea,  for 
her  clawing-to-windward  power  astonished  us  who  had  fought 


80  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

in  the  teeth  of  hard  gales  elsewhere  in  flying  Symondite 
brigs.  Not  so,  however,  thought  a  tough  old  Hull  quarter 
master,  whose  weather-beaten  face  peered  anxiously  over  the 
lee,  and  watched  the  "Resolute"  beating  Oomer-a-lee,  for  I 
heard  him  growl  out,  "  Wull,  if  they  are  off  a  strait  lee-pack 
edge,  the  sooner  they  make  up  their  minds  to  run  into  it  the 
better!"  "Why  so,  Hall  V '  1  inquired.  "Because,  sir,"  re 
plied  the  old  man,  "that  ship  is  going  two  feet  to  leeward 
for  one  she  is  going  ahead,  and  she  would  never  work  off 
nothing  /" 

"  Pleasant!"  I  mentally  ejaculated  ;  but,  willing  to  hear 
more  from  my  dry  old  friend,  who  was  quite  a  character  in 
his  way, — "  Perhaps,"  I  said,  "  you  have  occasionally  been 
caught  in  worse  vessels  off  such  a  pack  as  you  describe,  or 
a  lee  shore,  and  still  not  been  lost?" 

"Oh  !  Lord,  sir!  we  have  some  rum  craft  in  the  whaling 
ships,  but  I  don't  think  any  thing  so  sluggish  as  the  '  Reso 
lute.'  Howsomdever,  they  gets  put  to  it  now  and  then. 
Why,  it  was  only  last  year,  wre  were  down  on  the  south 
west  fishing-ground:  about  the  10th  of  October,  it  came  on 
to  blow,  sir,  from  the  southward,  and  sent  in  a  sea  upon  us, 
which  nearly  drowned  us :  we  tried  to  keep  an  offing,  but  it 
was  no  use;  we  couldn't  show  a  rag;  every  thing  was  blown 
away,  and  it  was  perishing  cold ;  but  our  captain  was  a 
smart  man,  and  he  said, — '  Well,  boys,  we  must  run  for 
Hangman's  Cove,*  altho'  it's  late  in  the  day ;  if  we  don't, 
I  won't  answer  where  we'll  be  in  the  morning." 

"So  up  we  put  the  helm,  sir,  to  run  for  a  place  like  a  hole  in 
a  wall,  with  nothing  but  a  close-reefed  topsail  set,  and  the 
sky  as  thick  as  pea-soup.  It  looked  a  bad  job,  I  do  assure 

*  Hangman's  Cove,  a  small  harbour  on  the  west  side  of  Davis's 
Straits. 


STEAMIXG    UP  BARROW'S  STRAIT.  81 

you,  sir.  Just  as  it  was  dark,  we  found  ourselves  right  up 
against  the  cliffs,  and  we  did  not  know  whether  we  were  lost 
or  saved  until  by  good  luck  we  shot  into  dead  smooth  water 
in  a  little  cove,  and  let  go  our  anchor.  Next  day  a  calm 
set  in,  and  the  young  ice  made  round  the  ship  :  we  couldn't 
cut  it,  and  we  couldn't  tow  the  vessel  through  it.  We  had 
not  three  months'  provisions,  and  we  made  certain  sure  of 
being  starved  to  death  ;  when  the  wind  came  strong  off  the 
land,  and,  by  working  for  our  lives,  we  escaped,  and  went 
home  directly  out  of  the  country." 

"  A  cheering  tale,  this,  of  the  Hangman's  Cove,"  I  thought, 
as  I  turned  from  my  Job's  comforter;  and,  satisfying  myself 
that  the  pack  precluded  all  chance  of  reaching  Leopold 
Island  for  the  present,  I  retired  to  rest. 

Next  day,  the  27th  of  August,  found  us  steering  past 
Cape  Hurd,  off  which  the  pack  lay  at  a  distance  of  some 
ten  miles,  and,  as  we  ran  westward,  and  the  breadth  of  clear 
water  gradually  diminished,  the  wind  failed  us;  although, 
astern  in  Lancaster  Sound,  there  was  still  a  dark  and  angry 
sky  betokening  a  war  of  the  elements,  whereas  where  we 
were  off  Radstock  Bay — all  was  calm,  cold,  and  arctic. 

"  Up  steam,  and  take  in  tow !"  was  again  the  cry ;  and 
as  the  pack,  acted  on  by  the  tide,  commenced  to  travel 
quickly  in  upon  Cape  Kicketts,  we  slipped  past  it,  and 
reached  an  elbow  formed  between  that  headland  and  Beechey 
Island.  The  peculiar  patch  of  broken  table-land,  called 
Caswell's  Tower,  as  well  as  the  striking  cliffs  of  slaty  lime 
stone  along  whose  base  we  were  rapidly  steaming,  claimed 
much  of  our  attention  ;  and  we  were  pained  to  see,  from  the 
strong  ice-blink  to  the  S.  W.,  that  a  body  of  packed  ice  had 
been  driven  up  the  straits  by  the  late  gales. 

The  sun  was  fast  dipping  behind  North  Devon,  and 
a  beautiful  moon  (the  first  we  had  found  any  use  for  since 

4* 


82  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

passing  Cape  Farewell  on  the  28th  of  May)  was  cheerfully 
accepted  as  a  substitute,  when  the  report  of  a  boat  being 
seen  from  the  mast-head  startled  us  and  excited  general 
anxiety.  We  were  then  off  Gascoigne  Inlet,  the  "  Resolute" 
in  tow.  The  boat  proved  to  be  the  ':  Sophia's,"  and  in  her 
Captain  Stewart  and  Dr.  Sutherland ;  they  went  on  board 
the  "  Resolute,"  and,  shortly  afterwards,  the  interesting 
intelligence  they  then  communicated  was  made  known  to 
me. 

It  was  this, — the  "  Assistance "  and  "  Intrepid,"  after 
they  left  us,  had  visited  Wolstenholme  Sound,  and  discov 
ered  the  winter  quarters  of  H.  M.  S.  "  North  Star,"  but 
nothing  to  lead  them  to  place  any  faith  in  Adam  Beck's 
tale :  from  thence  they  had  examined  the  north  shore  of 
Lancaster  Sound  as  far  as  Cape  Riley,  without  discovering 
any  thing ;  on  landing  there,  however,  numerous  traces  of 
English  seamen  having  visited  the  spot  were  discovered  in 
sundry  pieces  of  rag,  rope,  broken  bottles,  and  a  long-han 
dled  instrument  intended  to  rake  up  things  from  the  bottom 
of  the  sea ;  marks  of  a  tent-place  were  likewise  visible.  A 
cairn  was  next  seen  on  Beechey  Island  ;  to  this  the  "  Intrepid" 
proceeded,  and,  as  rather  an  odd  incident  connected  with  her 
search  of  this  spot  took  place,  I  shall  here  mention  it, 
although  it  was  not  until  afterwards  that  the  circumstance 
came  to  my  knowledge. 

The  steamer  having  approached  close  under  the  island, 
a  boat-full  of  officers  and  men  proceeded  on  shore  :  on  landing, 
some  relics  of  European  visitors  were  found ;  and  we  can 
picture  the  anxiety  with  which  the  steep  was  scaled  and  the 
cairn  torn  down,  every  stone  turned  over,  the  ground  under 
neath  dug  up  a  little,  and  yet,  alas !  no  document  or  record 
found.  Meanwhile  an  Arctic  adventure,  natural,  but  novel 
to  one  portion  of  the  actors,  was  taking  place.  The  boat 


TRACES  OF  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN.  83 

had  left  the  "  Intrepid"  without  arms  of  any  description, 
and  the  people  on  the  top  of  the  cliff  saw,  to  their  dismay, 
a  large  white  bear  advancing  rapidly  in  the  direction  of  the 
boat,  which,  by  the  deliberate  way  the  brute  stopped  and 
raised  his  head  as  if  in  the  act  of  smelling,  appeared  to  dis 
turb  his  olfactory  nerves.  The  two  men  left  in  charge  of 
the  boat  happily  caught  sight  of  Bruin  before  he  caught  hold 
of  them,  and  launching  the  boat  they  hurried  off  to  the 
steamer,  whilst  the  observers  left  on  the  cliff  were  not  sorry 
to  see  the  bear  chase  the  boat  a  short  way  and  then  turn 
towards  the  packed  ice  in  the  offing.  This  event,  together 
with  some  risk  of  the  ice  separating  the  two  vessels,  induced 
the  party  to  return  on  board,  where  a  general  (though,  as 
was  afterwards  proved,  erroneous)  impression  had  been 
created  on  the  minds  of  the  people  belonging  to  the  two 
ships,  that  what  they  had  found  must  be  the  traces  of  a  retreat 
ing  or  shipwrecked  party  from  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror." 
A  short  distance  within  Cape  Riley,  another  tent-place  was 
found  ;  and  then,  after  a  look  at  the  coast  up  as  far  as  Cape 
Inn  is,  the  two  vessels  proceeded  across  towards  Cape  Ho- 
tham,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Wellington  Channel,  having  in 
the  first  place  erected  a  cairn  at  the  base  of  Cape  Riley,  and 
in  it  deposited  a  document. 

Whilst  the  "  Assistance"  and  "  Intrepid"  were  so  em 
ployed,  the  American  squadron,  and  that  under  Captain 
Penny,  were  fast  approaching.  The  Americans  first  com 
municated  with  Captain  Ommanney's  division,  and  heard 
of  the  discovery  of  the  first  traces  of  Sir  John  Franklin. 
The  Americans  then  informed  Penny,  who  was  pushing  for 
Wellington  Channel ;  and  he,  after  some  trouble,  succeeded 
in  catching  the  "  Assistance,"  and,  on  going  on  board  of  her, 
learnt  all  they  had  to  tell  him,  and  saw  what  traces  they  had 
discovered.  Captain  Penny  then  returned — as  he  figuratively 


84  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

expressed  it — "  to  take  up  the  search  from  Cape  Riley  like  a 
blood-hound,"  and  richly  was  he  rewarded  for  doing  so. 

At  Cape  Spencer  he  discovered  the  ground-plan  of  a  tent, 
the  floor  of  which  was  neatly  and  carefully  paved  with 
small  smooth  stones.  Around  the  tent  a  number  of  bird's 
bones,  as  well  as  remnants  of  meat-canisters,  led  him  to 
imagine  that  it  had  been  inhabited  for  some  time  as  a  shoot 
ing  station  and  a  look-out  place,  for  which  latter  purpose  it  was 
admirably  chosen,  commanding  a  good  view  of  Barrow's 
Strait  and  Wellington  Channel  ;  this  opinion  was  confirmed 
by  the  discovery  of  a  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was  written, 
"  to  be  called," — evidently  the  fragments  of  an  officer's  night 
orders. 

Some  sledge  marks  pointed  northward  from  this  neigh 
bourhood  ;  and,  the  American  squadron  being  unable  to 
advance  up  the  strait  (in  consequence  of  the  ice  resting 
firmly  against  the  land  close  to  Cape  Irmis,  and  across  to 
Barlow  Inlet  on  the  opposite  shore),  Lieut,  de  Haven 
despatched  parties  on  foot  to  follow  these  sledge  marks, 
whilst  Penny's  squadron  returned  to  re-examine  Beechey 
Island.  The  American  officers  found  the  sledge  tracts  very 
distinct  for  some  miles,  but  before  they  had  got  as  far  as  Cape 
Bowden,  the  trail  ceased,  and  one  empty  bottle  and  a  piece  of 
newspaper  were  the  last  things  found  in  that  direction. 

Not  so  Captain  Penny's  squadron  : — making  fast  to  the 
ice  between  Beechey  Island  and  Cape  Spencer,  in  what  is 
now  called  Union  Bay,  and  in  which  they  found  the  "  Felix" 
schooner  to  be  likewise  lying,  parties  from  the  "  Lady 
Franklin"  and  "  Sophia"  started  towards  Beechey  Island. 

A  long  point  of  land  slopes  gradually  from  the  southern 
bluffs  of  this  now  deeply  interesting  island,  until  it  almost 
connects  itself  with  the  land  of  North  Devon,  forming,  on 
either  side  of  it,  two  good  and  commodious  bays.  On  this 


TRACES  OF  THE  LOST  EXPEDITION.  85 

slope,  a  multitude  of  preserved  meat-tins  were  strewed 
about,  and  near  them,  and  on  the  ridge  of  the  slope,  a 
carefully  constructed  cairn  was  discovered :  it  consisted 
of  layers  of  meat-tins  filled  with  gravel,  and  placed  to 
form  a  solid  foundation.  Beyond  this,  and  along  the 
northern  shore  of  Beechey  Island,  the  following  traces 
were  then  quickly  discovered  : — the  embankment  of  a 
house  with  carpenter  and  armourer's  working-places,  wash 
ing-tubs,  coal-bags,  pieces  of  old  clothing,  rope,  and,  lastly, 
the  graves  of  three  of  the  crew  of  the  "  Erebus"  and 
"  Terror," — placing  it  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  missing 
ships  had  indeed  been  there,  and  bearing  date  of  the 
winter  of  1845-46. 

We,  therefore,  now  had  ascertained  the  first  winter 
quarters  of  Sir  John  Franklin  !  Here  fell  to  the  ground 
all  the  evil  forebodings  of  those  who  had,  in  England,  con 
signed  his  expedition  to  the  depths  of  Baffin's  Bay,  on  its 
outward  voyage.  Our  first  prayer  had  been  granted  by  a 
beneficent  Providence ;  and  we  had  now  risen,  from  doubt 
and  hope,  to  a  certain  assurance  of  Franklin  having  reached 
thus  far  without  shipwreck  or  disaster. 

Leaving  us  in  high  spirits  at  the  receipt  of  such  glorious 
intelligence,  Captain  Stewart  proceeded  in  his  boat  to  search 
the  coast-line  towards  Gascoigne  Tnlet  and  Caswell's  Tower. 
We  continued  to  steam  on  ;  off  Cape  Riley  a  boat  was 
despatched  to  examine  the  record  left  by  the  "  Assistance ;" 
and,  from  her,  I  heard  that  the  "  Prince  Albert,"  which  had 
been  ordered  by  Lady  Franklin  down  Regent's  Inlet  to 
Brentford  Bay,  had  visited  the  said  cairn,  deposited  a 
document  to  say  so,  and  was  gone,  I  now  felt  certain, 
home. 

As  the  "  Pioneer"  slowly  steamed  through  the  loose-  ice 
which  lay  off  Beechey  Island,  the  cairn  erected  by  Franklin's 


86  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

people  on  the  height  above  us  was  an  object  of  deep  interest 
and  conversation  ;  and,  placed  so  conspicuously  as  it  was,  it 
seemed  to  say  to  the  beating  heart,  "  Follow  them  that 
erected  me !" 

On  rounding  the  western  point,  three  brigs  and  a  schooner 
were  seen  to  be  fast  to  the  land  ice  in  Union  Bay  ;  and.  as 
we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  almost  scraping  the  cliffs  in 
Baffin's  Bay,  I,  forgetting  the  difference  between  the  ap 
proach  to  a  granite  and  a  limestone  cliff,  and  desirous  to 
avoid  the  stream  of  ice  now  pouring  out  of  Wellington  Chan 
nel,  went  too  close  to  the  shore,  and  eventually  ran  aground ; 
the  "  Resolute"  just  saved  herself  by  slipping  the  tow-rope, 
and  letting  go  an  anchor.  A  rapidly-falling  tide  soon  showed 
me  that  I  must  be  patient  and  wait  until  next  day,  and,  as  the 
"  Resolute"  was  in  the  course  of  the  night  worked  into  the 
bay,  and  secured,  we  "  piped  down"  for  awhile. 

Wednesday,  28th  August.  —  1  was  awoke  by  a  hearty 
shake,  and  Captain  Penny's  warm  "Good-morning;"  he  had 
come  out  to  me  towing  the  "  Mary,"  a  launch  belonging  to 
Sir  John  Ross,  in  order  that  I  might  lighten  the  "  Pioneer," 
and  offered  me  the  "  Sophia"  brig,  to  receive  a  portion  of  my 
stores,  if  I  would  only  say  it  was  necessary. 

"A  friend  in  need  is  a  friend  indeed,"  and  such  Captain 
Penny  proved  himself;  for  my  position  was  far  from  a  pleas 
ant  one, — on  a  hard  spit  of  limestone,  in  which  no  anchor 
could  find  holding  ground,  and,  at  low  water,  five  feet  less 
than  the  draught  of  the  "  Pioneer,"  exposed  to  all  the  set  of 
the  ice  of  the  Wellington  Channel  and  Barrow's  Strait,  with 
about  another  week  of  the  "  open  season"  left. 

All  arrangements  having  been  made  to  try  and  float  the 
steamer  at  high  water,  I  had  time  to  ask  Captain  Penny  his 
news ;  the  best  part  of  which  was,  that  as  yet  nothing  had 


FItANKLIWS    WINTER   QUARTERN  87 

been  found  in  our  neighbourhood  to  lead  to  the  inference 
that  any  party  in  distress  had  retreated  from  the  "  Erebus" 
and  "  Terror."  He  considered  the  harbour  chosen  by  Frank 
lin  for  his  winter  quarters  was  an  excellent  one. 

Captain  Penny  gave  no  very  cheering  account  of  the  pros 
pect  of  a  much  farther  advance  for  ourselves :  Wellington 
Channel  was  blocked  up  with  a  very  heavy  floe,  and  Barrow's 
Strait  to  the  westward  was  choked  with  packed  ice ;  the 
"Assistance"  and  "Intrepid"  were  to  be  seen  off  Barlow 
Inlet,  but  their  position  was  far  from  a  secure  one;  and, 
lastly,  Penny  told  me  he  intended,  after  the  result  of  a 
fresh  search  for  a  record  on  Beechey  Island  was  known,  to 
communicate  with  the  "  Assistance,"  in  order  that  Captain 
Ommanney  might  be  fully  informed  of  all  that  had  been 
discovered,  and  that  we  might  learn  whether  any  thing  had 
been  found  at  Cape  Hotham. 

On  the  29th  of  August,  the  "  Pioneer,"  much  to  my  joy, 
was  again  afloat,  and  fast  to  the  ice  in  company  with  the 
other  vessels ;  and,  although  my  officers  and  crew  were  well 
fagged  out  with  forty -eight  hours'  hard  labour,  parties  of 
them,  myself  amongst  the  number,  were  to  be  seen  trudg 
ing  across  the  ice  of  Union  Bay  towards  Franklin's  winter 
quarters. 

It  needed  not  a  dark  wintry  sky  nor  a  gloomy  day  to 
throw  a  sombre  shade  around  my  feelings  as  I  landed  on 
Beechey  Island  and  looked  down  upon  the  bay,  on  whose 
bosom  once  had  ridden  Her  Majesty's  ships  "  Erebus"  and 
"  Terror ;"  there  was  a  sickening  anxiety  of  the  heart  as  one 
involuntarily  clutched  at  every  relic  they  of  Franklin's  squad 
ron  had  left  behind,  in  the  vain  hope  that  some  clue  as  to 
the  route  they  had  taken  hence  might  be  found. 

From  the  cairn  to  the  long  and  curving  beach,  from  the 
frozen  surface  of  the  bay  to  the  tops  of  the  distant  cliffs,  the 


88 


ARCTIC  JOURNAL, 


eye  involuntarily  but  keenly  sought  for  something  more  than 
had  yet  been  found. 

But,  no;  as  sharp  eyes,  as  anxious  hearts,  had  already 
been  there,  and  I  was  obliged  to  be  content  with  the  infor 
mation,  which  my  observation  proved  to  be  true,  that  the 
search  had  been  close  and  careful,  but  that  nothing  was  to  be 
found  in  the  shape  of  written  record. 

On  the  eastern  slope  of  the  ridge  of  Beechey  Island,  a 
remnant  of  a  garden  (for  remnant  it  now  only  was,  having 
been  dug  up  in  the  search)  told  an  interesting  tale :  its  neat 
ly-shaped  oval  outline,  the  border  carefully  formed  of  moss, 
lichen,  poppies,  and  anemones,  transplanted  from  some  more 
genial  part  of  this  dreary  region,  contrived  still  to  show 
symptoms  of  vitality  ;  but  the  seeds  which  doubtless  they 
had  sown  in  the  garden  had  decayed  away.  A  few  hundred 
yards  lower  down,  a  mound,  the  foundation  of  a  storehouse, 
was  next  to  be  seen ;  the  ground-plan  was  somewhat  thus  : — 

North  side,  Gl|  feet  long. 


A  B.  B  D.  )  Exterior  embankments,  about  four  feet  through  at  the  base  and  five  feet 

A  c.  K  F.  \      hitch,  in  which  posts  had  been  sunk. 

K  L.     An  interior  embankment  of  same  description  enclosing  a  space,  supposed 

store;  had  marks  of  posts  in  it  likewise. 
c  K.  and  F  n.     The  doorways. 
H.    Evidently  a  carpenter's  workshop,  from  the  shavings,  &c. 


WINTER   QUARTERS.  89 

It  consisted  of  an  exterior  and  interior  embankment,  into 
which,  from  the  remnants  left,  we  saw  that  oak  and  elm 
scantling  had  been  struck  as  props  to  the  roofing;  in  one 
part  of  the  enclosed  space  some  coal-sacks  were  found,  and 
in  another  part  numerous  wood-shavings  proved  the  ship's 
artificc-rs  to  have  been  working  here.  The  generally  re 
ceived  opinion  as  to  the  object  of  this  storehouse  was,  that 
Franklin  had  constructed  it  to  shelter  a  portion  of  his 
superabundant  provisions  and  stores,  with  which  it  was 
well  known  his  decks  were  lumbered  on  leaving  Whale-Fish 
Islands. 

Nearer  to  the  beach,  a  heap  of  cinders  and  scraps  of  iron 
showed  the  armourer's  working-place  ;  and  along:  an  old 
water-course,  now  chained  up  by  frost,  several  tubs,  con 
structed  of  the  ends  of  salt-meat  casks,  left  no  doubt  as  to  the 
washing-places  of  the  men  of  Franklin's  squadron :  happen 
ing  to  cross  a  level  piece  of  ground,  which  as  yet  no  one  had 
lighted  upon,  I  was  pleased  to  see  a  pair  of  Cashmere  gloves 
laid  out  to  dry,  with  two  small  stones  on  the  palms  to  pre 
vent  their  blowing  away  5  they  had  been  there  since  1846. 
I  took  them  up  carefully,  as  melancholy  mementoes  of  my 
missing  friends.  In  another  spot  a  flannel  was  discovered  : 
and  this,  together  with  some  things  lying  about,  would,  in 
my  ignorance  of  wintering  in  the  Arctic  Regions,  have  led 
me  to  suppose  that  there  was  considerable  haste  displayed 
in  the  departure  of  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror"  from  this 
spot,  had  not  Captain  Austin  assured  me  that  there  was 
nothing  to  ground  such  a  belief  upon ;  and  that,  from  expe 
rience,  he  could  vouch  for  these  being  nothing  more  than  the 
ordinary  traces  of  a  winter  station,  and  this  opinion  was  fully 
borne  out  by  those  officers  who  had  in  the  previous  year 
wintered  at  Port  Leopold,  one  of  them  asserting  that  people 
left  winter  quarters  too  well  pleased  to  escape  to  care  much 


90  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

for  a  handful  of  shavings,  an  old  coal-bag,  or  a  washing-tub. 
This  I  from  experience  now  know  to  be  true. 

Looking  at  the  spot  on  which  Penny  had  discovered  a 
boarding-pike,  and  comparing  it  with  a  projecting  point  on 
the  opposite  side,  where  a  similar  article  had  been  found  with 
a  finger  nailed  on  it  as  a  direction-post,  I  concluded  that,  in  a 
line  between  these  two  boarding-pikes,  one  or  both  of  the 
ships  had  been  at  anchor,  and  this  conjecture  was  much  borne 
out  by  the  relative  positions  of  the  other  traces  found ;  and 
besides  this,  a  small  cairn  on  the  crest  of  Beechey  Island  ap 
pears  to  have  been  intended  as  a  meridian  mark,  and,  if  so, 
Franklin's  squadron  undoubtedly  lay  where  I  would  place  it, 
far  and  effectually  removed  from  all  risk  of  being  swept  out 
of  the  bay,  which,  by  the  bye,  from  the  fact  of  the  enclosed 
area  being  many  times  broader  than  the  entrance  of  "  Erebus 
and  Terror  Bay,"  was  about  as  probable  as  any  stout  gentle 
man  being  blown  out  of  a  house  through  the  keyhole.  In 
the  one  case  the  stout  individual  would  have  to  be  cut  up 
small,  in  the  other  case  the  ice  would  have  to  be  well  broken 
up  ;  and  if  so,  it  was  not  likely  Franklin  would  allow  himself 
to  be  taken  out  of  harbour,  nolens  volens,  whilst  he  had  an 
chors  to  hook  the  ground  with,  and  ice-saws,  with  which  his 
crews  could  have  cut  through  a  mile  of  ice  three  feet  thick  in 
twenty -four  hours. 

The  graves  next  attracted  our  attention ;  they,  like  all 
that  English  seamen  construct,  were  scrupulously  neat.  Go 
where  you  will  over  the  globe's  surface,  afar  in  the  East,  or 
afar  in  the  West,  down  amongst  the  coral-girded  isles  of  the 
South  Sea,  or  here  where  the  grim  North  frowns  on  the 
sailor's  grave,  you  will  always  find  it  alike  ;  it  is  the  monu 
ment  raised  by  rough  hands,  but  affectionate  hearts,  over  the 
last  home  of  their  messmate;  it  breathes  of  the  quiet  church 
yard  in  some  of  England's  many  nooks,  where  each  had 


GRAVES  OF  SEAMEN.  91 

formed  his  idea  of  what  was  due  to  departed  worth ;  and  the 
ornaments  that  Nature  decks  herself  with,  even  in  the  deso 
lation  of  the  Frozen  Zone,  were  carefully  culled  to  mark  the 
dead  seamen's  home.  The  good  taste  of  the  officers  had  pre 
vented  the  general  simplicity  of  an  oaken  head  and  foot-board 
to  each  of  the  three  graves  being  marred  by  any  long  and 
childish  epitaphs,  or  the  doggerel  of  a  lower-deck  poet,  and 
the  three  inscriptions  were  as  follows  : — 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  J.  Torrington,  who  departed 
this  life,  January  1st,  1846,  on  board  of  H.  M.  S.  'Terror,' 
aged  20  years." 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Wm.  Braine,  R.  M.,  of  H.  M. 
S.  « Erebus  ;'  died  April  3d,  1846,  aged  32  years. 

"  '  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve.' — Josh, 
xxiv.  15." 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  J.  Hart  well,  A.  B.,  of  H.  M. 
S.  '  Erebus ;'  died  January  4th,  1846,  aged  25  years. 

"  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  consider  your  ways.' — 
Haggai  i.  7." 

I  thought  I  traced  in  the  epitaphs  over  the  graves  of  the 
men  from  the  "  Erebus,"  the  manly  and  Christian  spirit  of 
Franklin.  In  the  true  spirit  of  chivalry,  he,  their  captain 
and  leader,  led  them  amidst  dangers  and  unknown  difficulties 
with  iron  will  stamped  upon  his  brow,  but  the  words  of 
meekness,  gentleness,  and  truth,  were  his  device.  We  have 
seen  his  career  and  we  know  his  deeds ! 

"  Why  should  their  praise  in  verse  be  sung  ? 
The  name  that  dwells  on  every  tongue 
No  minstrel  needs." 

From  the  graves,  a  tedious  ascent  up  the  long  northern 
slope  of  Beechey  Island  carried  us  to  the  table-land,  on  whose 
southern  verge,  a  cairn  of  stones,  to  which  I  have  before  re- 


92  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

ferred,  was  placed ;  it  had  been  several  times  pulled  down 
by  different  searchers,  and  dug  up  underneath,  but  carefully 
replaced.  The  position  was  an  admirable  one,  and  appeared 
as  if  intentionally  chosen  to  attract  the  attention  of  vessels 
coming  up  Barrow's  Strait :  from  it,  on  the  day  I  was  up, 
the  view  was  so  extensive,  that,  did  I  not  feel  certain  of 
being  supported  by  all  those  who  have,  like  myself,  wit 
nessed  the  peculiar  clearness,  combined  with  refraction,  of 
the  atmosphere  in  Polar  climes,  I  should  bear  in  mind  the 
French  adage, — u  La  verite  n'est  pas  toujours  le  vraisem- 
blable,"  and  hold  my  peace. 

To  the  west,  the  land  of  Cornwallis  Island  stretched  up 
Wellington  Channel  for  many  miles,  and  Cape  Hotham 
locked  with  Griffith's  Island.  In  the  south-west  a  dark  mass 
of  land  showed  Cape  Walker,  and  from  Cape  Bunny,  the 
southern  shore  of  Barrow's  Strait  spread  itself  until  termi 
nated  in  the  steep  wall-like  cliffs  of  Cape  Clarence  and  Leo 
pold  Island. 

This  latter  spot,  so  interesting  from  having  been  the  win 
ter  quarters  of  the  late  relieving  squadron  under  Sir  James 
Ross,  looked  ridiculously  close, — to  use  a  seaman's  term,  it 
appeared  as  if  a  biscuit  might  have  been  tossed  upon  it ;  and 
the  thought  involuntarily  rose  to  one's  mind,: — Would  to 
God  that,  in  1848,  Sir  James  Ross  had  known  that  within 
forty  miles  of  him  Franklin  had  wintered. 

I  have  now  nearly  enumerated  all  the  important  points,  to 
which,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  parties  from  the 
eight  vessels  assembled  in  Union  Bay  were  constantly  wend 
ing  their  way  and  returning;  but  around  the  whole  island 
there  were  abundant  proofs  of  the  missing  expedition  hav 
ing  been  no  sluggards ;  for  there  was  hardly  a  foot  of  the 
beach-line  which  did  not  show  signs  of  their  having  been 
there  before  us,  either  in  shooting  excursions  or  other  pur- 


BEECHEY  ISLAND.  93 

suits,  and  usually  in  the  shape  of  a  preserved-meat  tin,  a 
piece  of  rope,  or  a  strip  of  canvas  or  rag. 

On  the  eastern  extreme  of  Beechey  Island,  and  under  a 
beetling  cliff  which  formed  the  entrance  to  the  bay,  a  very 
neatly-paved  piece  of  ground  denoted  a  tent-place;  much 
pains  had  been  bestowed  upon  it,  and  a  pigmy  terrace  had 
been  formed  around  their  abode,  the  margin  of  which  was 
decorated  with  moss  and  poppy  plants :  in  an  adjacent  gully 
a  shooting-gallery  had  been  established,  as  appeared  by  the 
stones  placed  at  proper  distances,  and  a  large  tin  marked 
"  Soup  and  Bouilli,"  which,  perforated  with  balls,  had  served 
for  a  target.  I  carefully  scanned  the  flat  slabs  of  slaty  lime 
stone,  of  which  the  over-hanging  cliffs  were  formed,  in  hopes 
of  seeing  some  name,  or  date,  scratched  upon  the  surface-; 
some  clue,  mayhap,  to  the  information  we  so  dearly  longed 
for, — the  route  taken  by  Franklin  on  sailing  hence,  whether 
to  Cape  Walker  or  up  Wellington  Channel.  But,  no  ;  the 
silent  cliff  bore  no  mark ;  by  some  fatality,  the  proverbial 
love  for  marking  their  names,  or  telling  their  tales,  on  every 
object,  which  I  have  ever  found  in  seamen,  was  here  an  ex 
ception,  and  I  turned  to  my  vessel,  after  three  unprofitable 
walks  on  Beechey  Island,  with  the  sad  conviction  on  my  mind, 
that,  instead  of  being  able  to  concentrate  the  wonderful  re 
sources  we  had  now  at  hand  about  Beechey  Island  in  one  line 
of  search,  we  should  be  obliged  to  take  up  the  three  routes 
which  it  was  probable  Franklin  might  have  taken  in  1846  ; 
viz.,  S.  W.  by  Cape  Walker,  N.  W.  by  Wellington  Chan 
nel,  or  W.  by  Melville  Island, — a  division  of  force  tending 
to  weaken  the  chance  of  reaching  Franklin  as  quickly  as  we 
could  wish,  unless  circumstances  were  peculiarly  favour 
able. 

Vagne  reports  of  some  of  Captain  Penny's  people  having 
seen  sledge-marks  on  the  eastern  shores  of  "  Erebus  and  Terror 


94  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Bay,"  induced  one  of  the  officers  of  the  "  Pioneer"  and  myself 
to  arrange  with  Captain  Penny  to  take  a  walk  in  that  direc 
tion. 

Landing  on  the  north  shore  of  Union  Bay,  at  the  base  of 
the  cliffs  of  Cape  Spencer,  we  were  soon  pointed  out  a  deep 
sledge-mark,  which  had  cut  through  the  edge  of  one  of  the 
ancient  tide-marks,  or  terraces,  and  pointed  in  a  direct  line 
from  the  cairn  of  meat-tins  erected  by  Franklin,  on  the 
northern  spur  of  Beechey  Island,  to  a  valley  which  led  to 
wards  the  bay  between  Capes  Innis  and  Bowden.  I  conceived 
the  trail  to  be  that  of  an  outward-bound  sledge,  on  account 
of  its  depth,  which  denoted  a  heavily-ladened  one. 

Proceeding  onward,  our  party  were  all  much  struck  with 
the  extraordinary  regularity  of  the  terraces,  which,  with 
almost  artificial  parallelism,  swept  round  the  base  of  the 
limestone  cliffs  and  hills  of  North  Devon.  That  they  were 
ancient  tidal-marks,  now  raised  to  a  considerable  elevation 
above  the  sea  by  the  upheaval  of  the  land,  I  was  the  more 
inclined  to  believe,  from  the  numerous  fossil  shells,  Crustacea, 
and  corallines  which  strewed  the  ground.  The  latter  wit 
nesses  to  a  once  more  genial  condition  of  climate  in  these 
now  inclement  regions,  carried  us  back  to  the  sun-blest 
climes,  where  the  blue  Pacific  lashes  the  coral-guarded  isles 
of  sweet  Otaheite,  and  I  must  plead  guilty  to  a  recreant  sigh 
for  past  recollections  and  dear  friends,  all  summoned  up  by 
the  contemplation  of  a  fragment  of  fossil-coral. 

The  steep  abutment  of  the  cliffs  on  the  north  of  "  Erebus 
and  Terror  Bay,"  obliged  us  to  descend  to  the  floe,  along  the 
surface  of  which  we  rapidly  progressed,  passing  the  point  on 
which  the  pike  used  by  Franklin's  people  as  a  direction-post 
had  been  found.  At  a  point  where  these  said  cliffs  receded 
to  the  N.  E.,  and  towards  the  head  of  Gascoigne  Inlet,  leav 
ing  a  long  strip  of  low  land,  which,  connecting  itself  with  the 


SLEDGE  TRAILS.  95 

bluffs  of  Cape  Riley,  forms  the  division  between  Gascoigne 
Inlet  and  "Erebus  and  Terror  Bay,"  a  perfect  congery  of 
sledge-marks  showed  the  spot  used  for  the  landing-place,  or 
rendezvous,  of  Franklin's  sledges  . 

Some  of  these  sledge-marks  swept  towards  Cape  Riley, 
doubtless  towards  the  traces  found  by  the  "Assistance;" 
others,  and  those  of  heavily-ladened  sledges,  ran  northward, 
into  a  gorge  through  the  hills,  whilst  the  remainder  pointed 
towards  Caswell's  Tower,  a  remarkable  mass  of  limestone, 
which,  isolated  at  the  bottom  of  Radstock  Bay,  forms  a  con 
spicuous  object  to  a  vessel  approaching  this  neighbourhood 
from  the  eastward  or  westward. 

Deciding  to  follow  the  latter  trail,  we  separated  the  party 
in  such  a  manner,  that,  if  one  lost  the  sledge-marks,  others 
would  pick  them  up. 

Arriving  at  the  margin  of  a  lake,  which  was  only  one  of  a 
series,  and  tasted  decidedly  brackish,  though  its  connection 
with  the  sea  was  not  apparent,  we  found  the  site  of  a  circular 
tent,  unquestionably  that  of  a  shooting-party  from  the  "  Ere 
bus"  or  "  Terror."  The  stones  used  for  keeping  down  the 
canvas  lay  around ;  three  or  four  large  ones,  well  blackened 
by  smoke,  had  been  the  fire-place ;  a  porter-bottle  or  two, 
several  meat-tins,  pieces  of  paper,  birds'  feathers,  and  scraps 
of  the  fur  of  Arctic  hares,  were  strewed  about.  Eagerly  did 
we  run  from  one  object  to  the  other,  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  stray  note  or  record,  to  say  whether  all  had  been  well 
with  them,  and  whither  they  had  gone.  No,  not  a  line  was 
to  be  found.  Disappointed,  but  not  beaten,  we  turned  to 
follow  up  the  trail. 

The  sledge-marks  consisted  of  two  parallel  lines,  about 
two  feet  apart,  and  sometimes  three  or  four  inches  deep  into 
the  gravel,  or  broken  limestone,  of  which  the  whole  plain 
seemed  to  be  formed.  The  difficulty  of  dragging  a  sledge 


Of)  ARCTIC'  JOURNAL. 

over  such  ground,  and  under  such  circumstances,  must  have 
been  great,  and,  between  the  choice  of  evils,  the  sledge-parties 
appeared  at  last  to  have  preferred  taking  to  the  slope  of  the 
hills,  as  being  easier  travelling  than  the  stony  plain.  A  fast- 
rising  gale,  immediately  in  our  faces,  with  thick,  driving  snow 
and  drift,  suddenly  obscured  the  land  about  us,  and  rendered 
our  progress  difficult  and  hazardous. 

After  edging  to  the  northward  for  some  time,  as  if  to 
strike  the  head  of  Gascoigne  Inlet,  the  trail  struck  suddenly 
down  upon  the  plain :  we  did  the  same,  and  as  suddenly  lost 
our  clue,  though  there  was  no  doubt  on  any  of  our  minds, 
but  that  the  sledge  had  gone  towards  Caswell's  Tower ;  for 
us  to  go  there  was,  however,  now  impossible,  having  no 
compass,  and  the  snow-storm  preventing  us  seeing  more  than 
a  few  hundred  yards  ahead.  We  therefore  turned  back  walk 
ing  across  the  higher  grounds  direct  for  the  head  of  Union 
Bay,  a  route  which  gave  us  considerable  insight  into  the 
ravine-rent  condition  of  this  limestone  country,  at  much  cost 
of  bodily  fatigue  to  ourselves.  The  glaciers  in  the  valleys, 
or  ravines,  hardly  deserved  the  name,  after  the  monsters  we 
had  seen  in  Baffin's  Bay,  and,  I  should  think,  in  extraordinary 
seasons,  they  often  melted  away  altogether,  for,  in  spite  of  so 
severe  a  one  as  the  present  year  had  been,  there  was  but 
little  ice  remaining. 

The  gale  raged  fiercely  as  the  day  drew  on,  and,  on  get 
ting  sight  of  Wellington  Channel,  the  wild  havoc  amongst 
the  ice  made  us  talk  anxiously  of  that  portion  of  our  squadron 
which  was  now  on  the  opposite  or  lee  side  of  the  channel,  as 
wrell  as  the  American  squadron  that  had  pushed  up  to  the 
edge  of  the  fixed  ice  beyond  Point  Innis. 

Seven  hours'  hard  walking  left  us  pretty  well  done  up  by 
the  time  we  tumbled  into  our  boat,  and,  thanks  to  the  stal 
wart  strokes  of  Captain  Stewart's  oar,  we  soon  reached  the 


WELLINGTON  CHANNEL.  97 

"Pioneer,"    and  enjoyed  our  dinner  with   more  than  the 
usually  keen  appetite  of  Arctic  seamen. 

Such  were  the  traces  found  in  and  about  Franklin's  winter 
quarters:  one  good  result  had  arisen  from- their  discovery, — 
the  safe  passage  of  Franklin  across  the  dangers  of  Baffin's 
Bay  was  no  longer  a  question ;  this  was  a  certainty,  and  it 
only  remained  for  us  to  ascertain  which  route  he  had  taken, 
and  then  to  follow  him. 

Wellington  Channel  engrossed  much  attention  ;  the  Amer 
icans,  w?ith  true  go-ahead  spirit,  watched  the  ice  in  it  most 
keenly.  The  gallant  commander  of  their  expedition,  De. 
Haven,  had  already  more  than  once  pushed  his  craft  up  an 
angle  of  water  north  of  Point  Innis ;  his  second.  Mr.  Griffin, 
in  the  "  Rescue,"  was  hard  at  work  obtaining  angles,  by 
which  to  ascertain  the  fact  of  Wellington  Channel  being  a 
channel  or  a  fiord,  a  point  as  yet  undecided,  for  there  was  a 
break  in  the  land  to  the  N.  W.  which  left  the  question  still 
at  issue. 

Captain  Penny,  with  his  vessels,  got  under  weigh  one  day, 
and  ran  over  towards  the  "  Assistance,"  as  far  as  the  pack 
would  allow  him,  and  then  despatched  an  officer  with  a  boat 
to  communicate  our  intelligence  as  well  as  his  own  ;  a  sudden 
change  of  weather  obliged  Penny  to  return,  and  the  boat's 
crew  of  the  "  Lady  Franklin,"  on  their  way  back,  under  Mr. 
John  Stuart,  underwent  no  small  risk  and  labour.  They  left 
the  "  Assistance"  to  walk  to  their  boat,  which  had  been 
hauled  on  the  ice;  a  thick  fog  came  on;  the  direction  was 
with  difficulty  maintained;  no  less  than  eleven  bears  were 
seen  prowling  around  the  party  ;  the  boat  was  found  by  mere 
accident,  and,  after  fourteen  hours'  incessant  walking  and 
pulling,  Mr.  Stuart  succeeded  in  reaching  the  "Lady  Frank 
lin." 

Through  him  we  learnt  that  Cape  Hotham  and  the  neigh- 
5 


98  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

bourhood  of  Barlow  Inlet  showed  no  sign  of  having  been 
visited  by  Franklin,  that  the  pack  was  close  home  against 
the  land,  and  that  the  "  Assistance"  and  "  Intrepid"  had 
been  subject  to  some  pressure,  but  were  all  safe  and  sound. 

Almost  every  hour  during  our  detention  in  Union  Bay, 
large  flights  of  wild  fowl,  principally  geese  and  eider  ducks, 
flew  past  us,  as  if  they  had  come  down  Wellington  Channel, 
and  were  making  away  to  the  southward ;  this  certain  indi 
cation  of  approaching  winter  was  not  to  be  mistaken,  and  we 
anxiously  counted  the  hours  which  kept  flitting  past,  whilst 
we  were  chained  up  in  Union  Bay. 

South-easterly  winds  forced  the  pack  tighter  and  tighter 
in  Wellington  Channel,  and  once  or  twice  it  threatened  to 
beset  us  even  in  Union  Bay  ;  and  on  the  31st  of  August  our 
position  was  still  the  same,  the  Americans  being  a  little  in 
advance,  off  Point  Inn  is. 

From  the  1st  to  the  4th  of  September,  we  lay  wishing  for 
an  opening,  the  Americans  working  gallantly  along  the  edge 
of  the  fixed  ice  of  Wellington  Channel,  towards  Barlow  Inlet. 

September  the  5th  brought  the  \vished-for  change.  A  lead 
of  water.  Hurrah !  up  steam  !  take  in  tow !  every  one's 
spirits  up  to  the  high-top-gallant  of  their  joy;  long  streaks 
of  water  showing  across  Wellington  Channel,  out  of  which 
broad  floe-pieces  were  slowly  sailing,  whilst  a  hard,  cold  ap 
pearance  in  the  northern  sky  betokened  a  northerly  breeze. 

With  the  "Resolute"  fast  astern,  the  "Pioneer"  slipped 
round  an  extensive  field  of  ice;  as  it  ran  aground  off  Cape 
Spencer,  shutting  off  in  our  rear  Captain  Penny's  brigs  and 
the  "Felix,"  another  mass  of  ice  at  the  same  time  caught 
on  Point  Innis,  and,  unable  to  get  past  it,  we  again  made 
fast,  sending  a  boat  to  watch  the  moment  the  ice  should  float, 
and  leave  us  a  passage  to  the  westward.  Whilst  thus  secured, 
we  ha4  abundant  amusement  and  occupation  in  observing  the 


THE    WHITE   WHALE.  99 

movements  of  shoals  of  white  whales.  They  were  what  the 
fishermen  on  board  called  "  running"  south,  a  term  used  to 
express  the  steady  and  rapid  passage  of  the  fish  from  one 
feeding-ground  to  the  other.  From  the  mast-head,  the  water 
about  us  appeared  filled  with  them,  whilst  they  constantly 
rose  and  blew,  and  hurried  on,  like  the  birds  we  had  lately 
seen,  to  better  regions  in  the  south.  That  they  had  been 
north  to  breed  was  undoubted,  by  the  number  of  young 
"  calves"  in  every  shoal.  The  affection  between  mother  and 
young  was  very  evident ;  for  occasionally  some  stately  white 
whale  would  loiter  on  her  course,  as  if  to  scrutinize  the  new 
and  strange  objects  now  floating  in  these  unploughed  waters, 
whilst  the  calf,  all  gambols,  rubbed  against  the  mother's  side, 
or  played  about  her.  The  proverbial  shyness  of  these  fish 
was  proved  by  our  fishermen  and  sportsmen  to  be  an  un 
doubted  fact,  for  neither  with  harpoon  nor  rifle-ball  could 
they  succeed  in  capturing  any  of  them. 

It  was  a  subject  of  deep  interest  and  wonder  to  see  this 
migration  of  animal  life,  and  I  determined,  directly  leisure 
would  enable  me,  to  search  the  numerous  books  with  which 
we  were  well  stored,  to  endeavour  to  satisfy  my  mind  with 
some  reasonable  theory,  founded  upon  the  movements  of  bird 
and  fish,  as  to  the  existence  of  a  Polar  ocean  or  a  Polar  con 
tinent. 

A  sudden  turn  of  tide,  which  floated  the  ice  that  had  for 
some  hours  been  aground  on  Point  Innis  and  Cape  Spencer, 
and  carried  it  out  of  Wellington  Channel,  which  favourable 
tide  I  therefore  conjectured  to  be  the  flood,  enabled  the  "  Pi 
oneer"  and  "  Resolute"  to  start  across  Wellington  Channel, 
towards  Barlow  Inlet. 

Northward  of  us,  ran,  almost  in  a  straight  line,  east  and 
west,  the  southern  edge  of  a  body  of  ice,  which  we  then 
imagined,  in  our  ignorance,  to  be  fixed,  extending  northward, 


100  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

— aye,  to  the  very  pole ;  for  in  the  rumour  of  it  being  a  mere 
fiord,  or  gulf,  I  had  no  belief,  nor  any  one  else  who  crossed 
it  in  our  ships.  The  day  was  beautifully  clear,  and  a  cold, 
hard  sky  enabled  us  to  see  the  land  of  North  Somerset  most 
distinctly,  though  thirty  to  forty  miles  distant;  and  yet 
nothing  appeared  resembling  land  in  the  northern  part  of 
Wellington  Channel.  More  than  one  of  us  regretted  the 
prospect  of  this  yet  unsearched  route  remaining  so,  and  the 
racing  mania  for  Melville  Island  and  Cape  Walker  bore  for 
all  of  us  this  day  its  fruit — unavailing  regret. 

A  fresh  and  favourable  gale  from  the  northward  raised 
our  spirits  and  hopes,  late  as  it  now  was  in  the  season,  and 
already,  with  the  adventurous  feelings  of  seamen,  we  began 
to  calculate  what  distance  might  yet  be  achieved,  should  the 
breeze  but  last  for  two  or  three  days.  The  space  to  be 
traversed,  even  to  Bearing's  Straits,  was  a  mere  nothing ; 
and  all  our  disappointments,  all  our  foiled  anticipations,  were 
forgotten,  in  the  light-heartedness  brought  about  by  a  day  of 
open  water  and  a  few  hours  of  a  fair  wind.  As  we  rattled 
along  the  lane  of  blue  water  which  wound  gracefully  ahead 
to  the  westward,  the  shores  of  Corn  wall  is  Island  rapidly  re 
vealed  themselves,  and  offered  little  that  was  striking  or  pic 
turesque.  One  uniform  tint  of  russet-brown  clothed  the 
land,  as  the  sun  at  eight  in  the  evening  sunk  behind  the  ice 
bound  horizon  of  Wellington  Channel. 

Novel  and  striking  as  were  the  colours  thrown  athwart 
the  cold,  hard  sky  by  the  setting  orb,  I  thought  with  a  sigh 
of  those  gay  and  flickering  shades  which  beautify  the  heavens 
in  the  tropics,  when  the  fierce  sun  sinks  to  his  western  rest. 
No  gleams  of  purple  and  gold  lit  up  the  hill-tops  ;  no  fiery 
streaks  of  sunlight  streamed  across  the  water,  or  glittered  on 
the  wave.  No !  all  was  cold  and  silent  as  the  grave.  In 
heaven  alone  there  appeared  sunshine  and  vitality  : — it  was 


CROSSING    WELLINGTON  CHANNEL.  101 

rightly  so.  Frost  was  fast  claiming  its  dominion,  for,  with 
declining  sunlight,  the  space  of  water  between  the  pack  and 
the  floe  became  a  sheet  of  young  ice,  about  the  one-eighth  of 
an  inch  in  thickness. 

The  "  Assistance"  and  "  Intrepid"  were  gone,  it  was  very 
evident ;  but  the  American  squadron  was  observed  in  Barlow 
Inlet.  As  we  approached  them,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing,  they  were  to  be  seen  firing  muskets.  We  therefore  put 
our  helms  down,  and  performed,  by  the  help  of  the  screw, 
figures  of  eight  in  the  young  ice,  until  a  boat  had  communi 
cated  with  Commander  De  Haven,  from  whom  we  learned  that 
one  of  his  vessels  was  aground  in  the  inlet,  and  that  it  was  no 
place  for  us  to  go  into,  unless  we  wanted  to  remain  there. 
The  passage  to  the  westward,  round  Cape  Hotham,  was  like 
wise  blocked  up,  and  no  alternative  remained  biit  to  make 
fast  to  the  floe  to  the  north  of  us.  This  was  done,  and  just 
in  time;  for  a  smart  breeze  from  the  S.  E.  brought  up  a 
great  deal  of  ice,  and  progress  in  any  direction  was  impos 
sible. 

I  had  now  time  to  observe  that  the  floe  of  Wellington 
Channel,  instead  of  consisting  of  a  mass  of  ice  (as  was  cur 
rently  reported)  about  eight  feet  in  thickness,  did  not  in 
average  depth  exceed  that  of  the  floes  of  Melville  Bay, 
although  a  great  deal  of  old  ice  was  mixed  up  with  it,  as  if 
a  pack  had  been  re-cemented  by  a  winter's  frost;  in  which 
case,  of  course,  there  would  be  ice  of  various  ages  mixed  up 
in  the  body  ;  and  much  of  the  ice  was  lying  crosswise  and 
edgeways,  so  that  a  person  desirous  of  looking  at  the  Wel 
lington  Channel  floe,  as  the  accumulation  of  many  years  of 
continued  frost,  might  have  some  grounds  upon  which  to  base 
his  supposition.  A  year's  observation,  however,  has  shown 
me  the  fallacy  of  supposing  that  in  deep-water  channels  floes 
continue  to  increase  in  thickness  from  year  to  year;  and  to 


102  A R  CTIG  JO  URNAL. 

that  subject  I  will  return  in  a  future  chapter,  when  treating 
of  Wellington  Channel. 

The  closing  chapter  of  accidents,  by  which  the  navigation 
of  1850  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  squadrons  in  search  of 
Sir  John  Franklin,  is  soon  told. 

The  "  Resolute"  and  "  Pioneer"  remained,  unable  to  move, 
in  Wellington  Channel ;  a  northerly  gale  came  on,  after  a 
short  breeze  from  the  S.  E. ;  and  imagine,  kind  reader,  our 
dismay,  in  finding  the  vast  expanse,  over  which  the  eye  had 
in  vain  strained  to  see  its  limit — imagine  this  field  suddenly 
breaking  itself  across  in  all  directions,  from  some  unseen 
cause,  farther  than  (as  appeared  to  us)  a  northerly  gale  blow 
ing  over  its  surface,  and  our  poor  barks,  in  its  cruel  embrace, 
sweeping  out  of  Wellington  Channel,  and  then  towards  Leo 
pold  Island.  At  one  time,  the  probability  of  reaching  the 
Atlantic,  as  Sir  James  Ross  did,  stared  us  disagreeably  in 
the  face,  and  blank  indeed  did  we  all  look  at  such  a  pros 
pect. 

A  calm  and  frosty  morning  ushered  in  the  9th  of  Septem 
ber.  The  pack  was  fast  re-knitting  itself,  and  we  were  drift 
ing  with  it,  one  mile  per  hour,  to  the  S.  E.,  when  Penny's 
brigs,  that  had  been  seen  the  day  before  crossing  to  the 
northward  of  us,  were  observed  to  be  running  down  along 
the  western  shore,  with  the  American  squadron  ahead  of  them, 
the  latter  having  just  escaped  from  an  imprisonment  in 
Barlow  Inlet.  About  the  same  time,  a  temporary  opening 
of  the  pack  enabled  the  steam-power  again  to  be  brought  to 
bear,  and  never  was  it  more  useful.  The  pack  was  too  small 
and  broken  for  a  vessel  to  warp  or  heave  through,  there  was 
no  wind  "  to  bore"  through  it,  and  the  young  ice  in  some 
places,  by  pressure,  was  nigh  upon  six  inches  thick ;  towing 
with  boats  was,  therefore,  out  of  the  question. 

The  "  Resolute"  fast  astern,  with  a  long  scope  of  hawser, 


ALL   TSE   VESSELS  MEET.  103 

the  "  Pioneer,"  like  a  prize-fighter,  settled  to  her  work,  and 
went  in  and  won.  The  struggle  was  a  hard  one, — now 
through  sludge  and  young  ice,  which  gradually  checked  her 
headway,  impeded  as  she  was  with  a  huge  vessel  astern — 
now  in  a  strip  of  open  water,  mending  her  pace  to  rush  at  a 
bar  of  broken-up  pack,  which  surged  and  sailed  away  as  her 
fine  bow  forced  through  it — now  cautiously  approaching  a 
nip  between  two  heavy  floe  pieces,  which  time  and  the  screw 
wedged  slowly  apart — and  then  the  subdued  cheer  with  which 
our  crews  witnessed  all  obstacles  overcome,  and  the  Naval 
expedition  again  in  open  water,  and  close  ahead  of  the  Gov 
ernment  one  under  Penny,  and  Commander  De  Haven's 
gallant  vessels,  who,  under  a  press  of  canvas,  were  just 
hauling  round  Cape  Hotham.  A-  light  air  and  bay-ice  gave 
us  every  advantage. 

Next  day,  in  succession,  we  all  came  up  to  the  "  Assist 
ance"  and  "Intrepid,"  fast  at  a  floe  edge,  between  Cape 
Bunny  and  Griffith's  Island.  That  this  floe  was  not  a  fixed 
one  we  were  assured,  as  the  "  Intrepid"  had  been  between  it 
and  Griffith's  Island,  nearly  as  far  as  Somerville  Island ;  but, 
unhappily,  it  barred  our  road  as  effectually  as  if  it  were  so. 
Penny,  with  his  squadron,  failed  in  passing  southward 
towards  Cape  Walker ;  and  Lieutenant  Cator,  in  the  "  Intrep 
id,"  was  equally  unsuccessful. 

I  was  much  interested  in  the  account  of  the  gallant 
struggle  of  the  "Assistance"  and  "Intrepid"  in  rounding 
Cape  Hotham.  They  fairly  fought  their  way  against  the  ice, 
which  at  every  east-going  tide  was  sweeping  out  of  Barrow's 
Strait,  and  grinding  along  the  shore.  It  is  most  satisfactory 
to  see  that  all  risks  may  be  run,  and  yet  neither  ships  nor 
crews  be  lost ;  and  it  is  but  fair  to  suppose,  that,  if  our  ships 
incurred  such  dangers  unscathed,  the  "  sweet  cherub"  will  not 
a  jot  the  less  have  watched  over  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror." 


104  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Of  course,  the  "  croakers"  say,  if  the  floe  had  pressed  a  little 
more — if  the  ship  had  risen  a  little  less — in  fact,  if  Provi 
dence  had  been  a  little  less  watchful — disasters  must  have 
overtaken  our  ships;  but  when  I  hear  these  "dismal  Jem 
mies"  croak,  it  puts  me  much  in  mind  of  the  midshipman, 
who,  describing  to  his  grandmamma  the  attack  on  Jean  d'Acre, 
after  recounting  his  prowess  and  narrow  escapes,  assured  the 
old  lady  that  Tom  Tough,  the  boatswain's  mate,  had  asserted 
with  an  oath,  which  put  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt,  that  if  one 
of  those  shot  from  the  enemy  had  struck  him,  he  never  would 
have  lived  to  tell  the  tale. 

From  my  gallant  comrade  of  the  "  Intrepid,"  we  heard  of 
the  search  that  had  been  made  in  Wolstenholme  Sound,  and 
along  the  north  shore  of  Lancaster  Sound.  In  both  places 
numerous  traces  of  Esquimaux  had  been  seen,  at  Wolsten 
holme  Sound  especially.  These  were  numerous  and  recent, 
and  the  "Intrepid's"  people  were  shocked,  on  entering  the 
huts,  to'  find  many  dead  bodies  ;  the  friends,  evidently,  of  our 
Arctic  Highlander,  Erasmus  York,  who,  as  I  before  said,  had 
shipped  as  interpreter  on  board  the  "  Assistance."  In  Wol 
stenholme  Sound,  the  cairns  erected  by  the  "North  Star" 
were  discovered  and  visited,  and,  whilst  speaking  of  her,  it 
will  be  as  well  for  me  to  note,  that  Captain  Penny,  on  his 
way  up  Lancaster  Sound,  met  the  "  North  Star"  off  Admi 
ralty  Inlet,  August  21st,  gave  Mr.  Saunders  his  orders  from 
England,  and  told  him  of  the  number  of  ships  sent  out  to 
resume  the  search  for  Franklin.  Captain  Penny  left  Mr. 
Saunders  under  an  impression  that  he  was  going  to  Disco,  to 
land  his  provisions. 

There  was  one  remarkable  piece  of  information,  which  I 
noted  at  the  time,  and  much  wondered  at ;  it  was  derived  from 
Captain  Penny,  and  the  officers  of  the  "  Lady  Franklin"  and 
"  Sophia."  It  appears  they  crossed  Wellington  Channel, 


THE  COMING   ON  OF   WINTER.  105 

about  ten  miles  higher  up  than  we  did  ;  the  ice  breaking 
away,  it  will  be  remembered,  and  drifting  with  the  "  Reso 
lute"  and  "  Pioneer"  to  the  south.  From  a  headland  about 
twelve  miles  north  of  Barlow  Inlet,  Captain  Penny  observed 
with  astonishment  that  there  was  only  about  ten  miles 
more  of  ice  to  the  north  of  his  vessels,  and  then,  to  use  his 
own  words,  "Water!  water!  large  water  !  as  far  as  I  could 
see  !  to  the  N.  W."  How  this  water  came  there  1  what  was 
beyond  it  ]  were  questions  which  naturally  arose  ;  but  it 
was  not  until  the  following  year  that  the  mystery  was  ex 
plained,  and  we  learned,  what  was  only  then  suspected,  that 
we  had  overshot  our  mark. 

Sept.  \\th,  1850. — The  winter  of  the  Arctic  Regions  came 
on  us,  in  its  natural  character  of  darkness,  gale,  cold,  and 
snow.  First,  the  wind  from  the  S.  E.,  with  a  heavy  sea, 
which  sent  us  careering  against  the  floe-edge,  and  gave  all 
hands  a  hard  night's  work  to  keep  the  anchors  in  the  firm  floe, 
as  the  edge  rapidly  broke  up,  under  the  combined  effects  of 
sea  and  shocks  from  our  vessels  ;  then,  with  a  gust  or  two, 
which  threatened  to  blow  the  sticks  out  of  our  craft,  the 
wind  chopped  round  to  the  N.  W. ;  and  a  fulling  tempera 
ture,  which  Arctic  statistics  told  us  would  not,  at  this  season, 
ever  recover  itself,  said  plainly,  that  winter  quarters  alone 
remained  for  us. 

Happily,  the  "  Intrepid"  had  discovered  a  harbour  be 
tween  Cape  Hotham  and  Martyr,  on  the  south  side  of  Corn- 
wallis  Island.  This  place,  and  Union  Bay,  in  Beechey  Island, 
offered  two  snug  positions,  from  which  operations  in  the 
spring  with  travelling  parties  could  be  well  and  effectually 
carried  out.  Action,  action  now  alone  remained  for  us  ;  and 
earnestly  did  we  pray  that  our  leader's  judgment  might 
now  decide  upon  such  positions  being  taken  up  as  would 

5* 


106  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

secure  all   directions — viz.   to    the   south-west, — north-west 
and,  lastly,  west  being  provided  for. 

Sept.  \Sth. — Found  the  four  vessels  of  our  squadron,  and 
one  of  the  American  brigs, — the  "  Advance"  under  Lieuten 
ant  De  Haven, — all  safe  at  the  floe-edge.  The  floe  had 
drifted  during  the  gale  considerably  towards  the  shores  of 
North  Somerset ;  and  the  wedge-shaped  island,  called  Cape 
Bunny,  was  distinctly  visible  :  the  other  of  the  American 
brigs  had,  in  the  height  of  the  gale,  blown  adrift  and  disap 
peared  in  the  darkness  and  snow-drift.  For  her,  as  well  as 
Her  Majesty's  brigs  under  Captain  Penny,  much  anxiety 
was  entertained.  The  American  leader  of  the  expedition,  I 
heard,  finding  farther  progress  hopeless,  intended,  in  obedience 
to  his  orders,  to  return  to  New  York.  This  he  was  the  more 
justified  in  doing,  as  no  preparation  or  equipment  for  travel 
ling-parties  had  been  made  by  them,  and  their  fittings  for 
wintering  in  the  Arctic  Regions  were,  compared  with  ours, 
very  deficient.  The  gallant  Yankees,  however,  could  not  re 
turn  without  generously  offering  us  provisions,  fuel,  and 
stores  ;  and  the  officers,  with  a  chivalrous  feeling  worthy  of 
themselves  and  the  cause  for  which  they  had  come  thus  far, 
offered  to  remain  out  or  exchange  with  any  of  "ours"  who 
wanted  to  return  home.  We  had  no  space  in  stowage  to 
profit  by  the  first  offer,  nor  had  enthusiasm  yet  become  suffi 
ciently  damped  in  us  to  desire  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  prof 
fered  exchange ;  both  were  declined,  and  it  was  said  that 
Lieutenant  De  Haven  was  told  by  our  leader,  if  he  could 
land  any  thing  for  us  in  Radstock  Bay  as  a  depot,  he  might 
render  good  service. 

Letters  were  therefore  hurriedly  closed,  letter-bags  made 
up,  and  pleasant  thoughts  of  those  at  home  served  to  cheer 
us,  as,  with  the  temperature  at  about  zero,  and  with  a  fresh 


THE  AMERICAN  SQUADRON.  107 

breeze,  we  cast  off  together,  and  worked  to  the  northward, 
towards  Griffith's  Island. 

Rubbing  sides  almost  with  the  "  Advance,"  who  cour 
teously  awaited  with  the  "Pioneer"  the  heavy-heeled  gam 
bols  of  the  "Resolute,"  day  was  drawing  on  before  the 
squadron  reached  Griffith's  Island,  from  the  lee  of  which  the 
missing  American  schooner  was  descried  to  be  approaching. 
Lieutenant  De  Haven  now  hoisted  his  colours  for  home,  and 
backed  his  topsail.  We  did  the  same ;  and  after  a  consid 
erable  time  he  bore  up  with  his  squadron  for  New  York, 
doubtless  supposing,  from  no  letters  being  sent,  that  we  had 
none. 

It  was  far  otherwise  ;  and  throughout  the  winter  many  a 
growl  took  place,  as  a  huge  pile  of  undespatched  letters 
would  pass  before  our  sight,  and  blessings  of  a  doubtful  na 
ture  were  showered  on  our  ill  luck. 

To  the  ice,  which  extended  unbroken  from  Griffith's  Island 
to  Cape  Martyr,  we  will  leave  the  Naval  expedition  secured, 
whilst  we  briefly  recount  the  most  striking  points  in  con 
nection  with  the  American  expedition  that  had  now  left  us 
on  its  voyage  home. 

In  1849,  Mr.  Henry  Grinnell,  a  merchant  of  the  United 
States,  actuated  by  the  purest  philanthropy  that  ever  influ 
enced  the  heart  of  man,  determined  to  devote  a  portion  of 
his  well-deserved  wealth  to  the  noble  purpose  of  relieving 
Sir  John  Franklin,  who,  it  was  much  to  be  feared,  from  the 
desponding  tone  of  a  portion  of  the  English  press  on  Sir 
James  Ross's  failure,  was  likely  to  be  left  unsought  for  in 
1850.  He  therefore,  at  his  sole  expense,  purchased  two  ves 
sels,  one  of  140  tons,  the  "  Advance,"  the  other  90  tons,  the 
"  Rescue,"  and,  having  strengthened,  provisioned,  and  equipped 
them,  Mr.  Grinuell  then  placed  them  under  the  control  of 
his  Government,  in  order  that  they  might  be  commanded 


108  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

by  naval  officers  and  sail  under  naval  discipline.  The  Amer 
ican  Congress  passed  the  necessary  acts,  and  Lieutenant  E. 
De  Haven,  who  had  seen  service  in  the  Antarctic  seas,  took 
command  of  the  "Advance,"  as  the  leader  of  the  expedition, 
and  another  distinguished  officer.  Mr.  Griffin,  hoisted  his 
pendant  in  the  "  Rescue."  On  the  23d  May,  1850,  the  two 
vessels  sailed  from  New  York,  touching  at  Disco,  where  I 
am  sorry  to  say  they  found  my  worthy  friend  "  Herr  Agar" 
to  have  died  shortly  after  my  visit;  they  reached  the  pack 
of  Melville  Bay  on  the  7th  July,  and,  tightly  beset  until  the 
23d,  they  did  not  reach  Cape  York  until  early  in  August. 

The  7th  August  they  reached  Cape  Dudley  Digges  !  (at 
that  time  we  were  still  beset  off  Cape  Walker  in  Melville 
Bay),  thence  they' stood  to  the  south-west,  until  they  reached 
the  West  Water. 

On  the  18th  August,  when  we  had  a  thick  fog  and  almost 
a  calm  off  Possession  Bay,  the  American  squadron  was  in  a 
severe  gale  in  Lancaster  Sound ;  and  on  the  25th  August, 
after  visiting  Leopold  Island,  the  gallant  Americans  reached 
Cape  Riley  close  on  the  heels  of  the  "  Assistance1'  and  "  In 
trepid." 

From  that  time  we  have  shown  that  they  lost  no  oppor 
tunity  of  pushing  ahead  ;  and  if  progress  depended  alone  upon 
skill  and  intrepidity,  our  go-ahead  friends  would  have  given 
us  a  hard  tussle  for  the  laurels  to  be  won  in  the  Arctic 
regions. 

As  a  proof  of  the  disinterestedness  of  their  motives,  men 
as  well  as  officers,  I  was  charmed  to  hear  that  before  sailing 
from  America  they  had  signed  a  bond  not  to  claim,  under 
any  circumstances,  the  £20,000  reward  the  British  Govern 
ment  had  offered  for  Franklin's  rescue;  we,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  had  acted  differently.  America  had  plucked  a  rose  from 
our  brows ;  but  in  such  generous  enterprise,  we  for  the  most 


GO  INTO    WINTER  QUARTERS.  109 

part  felt  that  no  narrow-minded  national  prejudices  could 
enter,  and  I  gloried  in  the  thought  that  the  men  who  had  so 
nobly  borne  themselves,  as  well  as  he,  the  princely  merchant 
who  had  done  his  best  to  assist  the  widow  and  orphan  to 
recover  those  for  whom  they  had  so  long  hoped  and  wept, 
were  men  who  spoke  our  language,  and  came  from  one 
parent-stock — a  race  whose  home  is  on  the  great  waters. 

Looking  at  my  rough  notes  for  the  following  week,  I  am 
now  puzzled  to  know  what  we  were  hoping  for;  it  must 
have  been  a  second  open  season  in  1850, — a  sanguine  dis 
position,  no  doubt  brought  about  by  a, break  in  the  weather, 
not  unlike  the  Indian  summer  described  by  American  writers. 

September  14th. — I  went  in  the  "Pioneer,"  with  some 
others,  to  see  if  the  floe  had  opened  a  road  to  the  south  of 
Griffith's  Island  ;  it  had  not,  nor  did  it  appear  likely  to  do  so 
this  season,  though  there  was  water  seen  some  fifteen  miles 
or  so  to  the  westward. 

One  day  the  "  Assistance"  and  "  Intrepid"  started  for 
Assistance  Harbour,  to  winter  there,  but  came  back  again, 
for  winter  had  barred  the  route  to  the  eastward  as  well  as 
westward.  One  day  after  this,  or  rather,  many  days,  we 
amused  ourselves,  with  powder,  blowing  open  a  canal  astern 
of  the  "Resolute,"  which  froze  over  as  quickly  as  we  did  it. 
At  other  times,  some  people  would  go  on  the  top  of  the 
island,  and  see  oceans  of  water,  where  no  ship  could  possibly 
get  to  it,  and  then  others  would  visit  the  same  spot  after  a 
night  or  two  of  frost,  and,  seeing  ice  where  the  others  had 
seen  water,  asserted  most  confidently  that  the  first  were 
exaggerators ! 

At  any  rate,  September  passed  ;  winter  and  frost  had  un 
doubted  dominion  over  earth  and  sea;  already  the  slopes  of 
Griffith's  Island,  and  the  land  north  of  us,  were  covered  with 


110  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

snow ;  the  water  in  sight  was  like  a  thread,  and  occasionally 
disappeared  altogether.  Fires  all  day,  and  candles  for  long 
nights,  were  in  general  requisition.  Some  cross-fire  in  the 
different  messes  was  taking  place  as  the  individuals  suffered 
more  or  less  from  the  cold.  Plethoric  ones,  who  became 
red-hot  with  a  run  up  the  ladder,  exclaimed  against  fires,  and 
called  zero  charming  weather ;  the  long  and  lethargic  talked 
of  cold  draughts  and  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby's  fate ;  the  testy 
and  whimsical  bemoaned  the  impure  ventilation.  A  fox  or 
two  was  occasionally  seen  scenting  around  the  ships,  and  a 
fox-hunt  enlivened  the  floe  with  men  and  officers,  who  chased 
the  unlucky  brute  as  if  they  had  all  come  to  Griffith's  Island 
especially  for  fox-skins ;  and  the  last  of  the  feathered  tribe, 
in  the  shape  of  a  wounded  "burgomaster,"  shivered,  half 
frozen,  as  it  came  for  its  daily  food. 

October  2d,  1850. — Lieutenant  M'Clintock  had  very  prop 
erly  urged  the  necessity  of  sending  travelling  parties  to 
forward  depots  of  provisions  upon  the  intended  routes  of  the 
different  parties  in  1851  :  these  were  this  morning  despatched, 
— Lieutenant  M'Clintock,  with  Dr.  Bradford,  carrying  out  a 
depot  towards  Melville  Island;  Lieutenant  Aldrich  taking 
one  to  Lowther  Island,  touching  at  Somerville  Island  on  the 
way. 

Lieutenant  Mecham  was  likewise  sent  to  examine  Corn- 
wallis  Island,  between  Assistance  Harbour  and  Cape  Martyr, 
for  traces  of  Franklin. 

We,  who  were  left  behind,  felt  not  a  little  anxious  about 
these  parties  whilst  absent,  for  winter  was  coming  on  with 
giant  strides ;  on  the  4th,  frost-bites  were  constantly  occur 
ring,  and  the  sun,  pale  and  bleary,  afforded  more  light  than 
warmth.  Our  preparations  for  winter  were  hurried  on  as 
expeditiously  as  possible ;  and  the  housing,  which,  like  a 


LIEUTENANT  MECHAM^S  ADVENTURE.  Ill 

tent,  formed  a  complete  covering  to  our  upper  decks,  afforded 
great  comfort  and  shelter  from  the  cold  bleak  wind  without. 

On  the  5th,  Lieutenant  Aldrich  returned  from  his  journey  ; 
he  had  not  been  able  to  go  beyond  Somerville  Island — the 
sea  between  it  and  Lowther  Island  being  covered  with  broken 
packed  ice,  half-frozen  sludge,  and  young  ice.  On  the  7th, 
Lieutenant  Mecham  arrived  with  the  intelligence  that  the 
"Lady  Franklin"  and  "Sophia"  were,  with  the  "Felix,"  safe 
in  Assistance  Harbour.  Captain  Penny,  after  his  failure  in 
reaching  Cape  Walker,  had  a  narrow  escape  of  being  beset 
on  the  shores  of  North  Somerset ;  but  by  carrying  on  through 
the  pack,  in  the  gale  of  the  llth  September,  he  had  happily 
secured  his  ships  in  excellent  winter  quarters. 

Lieutenant  Mecharn  had  an  adventure  on  his  outward 
route,  which  had  some  interesting  features :  as  he  was  cross 
ing  the  entrance  of  a  bay,  since  named  Resolute  Bay,  he 
observed  a  bear  amongst  some  hummocks,  evidently  breaking 
the  young  ice  by  a  sort  of  jumping  motion  ;  and  he  then  saw 
that  he  and  his  party  had  unconsciously  left* the  old  ice,  and 
were  travelling  over  bay-ice,  which  was  bending  with  the 
weight  of  the  men  and  sledge.  Bruin's  sagacity  here  served 
the  seamen  in  good  stead,  and  the  sledge  was  expeditiously 
taken  to  firmer  ice,  whilst  Mr.  M.  went  in  chase  of  the  bear; 
having  mortally  wounded  it,  the  brute  rushed  to  seaward,  and 
the  sportsman  only  desisted  from  the  pursuit  when  he  ob 
served  the  bear  fall,  and  in  doing  so  break  through  the  ice, 
which  was  too  weak  to  sustain  its  weight. 

Captain  Penny,  on  the  following  day,  sent  over  his  dog- 
sledge  to  secure  the  flesh  for  his  dogs,  by  which  time  the 
unlucky  bear  was  frozen  to  a  hard  and  solid  mass. 

October  9th. — Lieutenant  M'Clintock  returned ;  he  had 
placed  his  depot  forty  miles  in  advance,  towards  Melville 


112  AR  CTIG  JO  URNAL. 

Island, — three  days'  imprisonment  by  bad  weather,  in  the 
tents,  having  foiled  his  hopes  of  reaching  Bedford  Bay  in 
Bathurst  Island,  where  he  originally  intended  to  have  reached. 
This  party  had,  likewise,  met  water  to  the  westward,  and 
there  was  now  but  little  doubt  on  our  minds,  that,  had  the 
large  field  of  ice  which  was  blocking  the  way  between  Cape 
Bunny  and  Griffith's  Island  broken  up  or  drifted  away,  our 
squadron  would  have  reached,  in  all  probability,  as  far  as 
Parry  did  in  '20 ;  but  now,  the  utmost  we  could  hope  to 
attain  in  the  following  year  was  Melville  Island,  which  would 
be  our  goal,  instead  of  our  starting  point. 

Autumn  travelling  differs,  in  some  measure,  from  that 
of  the  spring.  I  will,  therefore,  give  the  indulgent  reader  an 
account  of  a  short  excursion  I  made  for  the  purpose  of  con 
necting  the  search  from  where  Lieutenant  Mecham  left  the 
coast,  to  the  point  at  which  Lieutenant  M'Clintock  had  again 
taken  it  up ;  in  fact,  a  bay,  facetiously  christened  by  the  sea 
men  (who  had  learned  that  newly-discovered  places  were 
forbidden  to  be'  named),  "Bay,  Oh!  no  we  never  mention 
it !"  and  "  Cape  No  Name." 

My  kind  friend,  Mr.  May  of  the  "Resolute,"  volunteered 
to  accompany  me,  and  on  Thursday,  the  10th  of  October,  we 
started  with  our  tent,  a  runner-sledge,  and  five  days'  pro 
visions.  The  four  seamen  and  our  two  selves  tackled  to  the 
drag-ropes,  and,  with  the  temperature  at  6°  above  zero,  soon 
walked  ourselves  into  a  state  of  warmth  and  comfort. 

Three  hours'  sharp  dragging  brought  us  to  Cape  Martyr; 
ascending  the  beach  until  we  had  reached  a  ledge  of  smooth 
ice  which  fringed  the  coast  within  the  broken  line  of  the  tide- 
marks,  we  turned  to  the  westward,  and  commenced  searching 
the  beach  and  neighbouring  headlands.  I  shall  not  easily 
efface  from  my  memory  the  melancholy  impression  left  by 
this,  my  first  walk  on  the  desolate  shores  of  Cornwallis 


RUINS  ON  CORNWALLIS  ISLAND. 


113 


Island.  Like  other  things,  in  time  the  mind  became  ac 
customed  to  it ;  and,  by  comparison,  one  soon  learned  to  see 
beauties  even  in  the  sterility  of  the  North. 

Casting  off  from  the  sledge,  I  had  taken  a  short  stroll  by 
myself  along  one  of  the  terraces  which,  with  almost  artificial 
regularity,  swept  around  the  base  of  the  higher  ground  behind, 
when,  to  my  astonishment,  a  mass  of  stone- work,  and  what  at 
first  looked  exactly  like  a  cairn,  came  in  view  ;  it  required  no 
spur  to  make  me  hasten  to  it,  and  to  discover  I  was  mistaken 
in  supposing  it  to  have  been  any  thing  constructed  so  recently 


Horizontal  Section, 
20  feet  circumference. 


Vertical  Section, 
5  feet  6  inches  high. 


1 1 4  ARCTIC  JO  URNAL. 

as  Franklin's  visit.  The  ruin  proved  to  be  a  conical-shaped 
building,  the  apex  of  which  had  fallen  in.  Its  circumference, 
at  the  base,  was  about  twenty  feet,  and  the  height  of  the 
remaining  wall  was  five  feet  six  inches.  Those  who  had 
constructed  it  appeared  well  acquainted  with  the  strength  of 
an  arched  roof  to  withstand  the  pressure  of  the  heavy  falls 
of  snow  of  these  regions ;  and  much  skill  and  nicety  was 
displayed  in  the  arrangement  of  the  slabs  of  slaty  limestone, 
in  order  that  the  conical  form  of  the  building  might  be  pre 
served  throughout. 

We  removed  the  stones  that  had  fallen  into  the  building, 
but  found  nothing  to  repay  our  labour;  indeed,  from  the 
quantity  of  moss  adhering  to  the  walls,  and  filling  up  the 
interstices  of  the  masses  which  formed  the  edifice,  I  conjec 
tured  it  was  many  years  since  it  was  constructed,  though  it 
would  be  impossible  to  guess  when  it  was  last  inhabited  ; 
for,  at  Pond's  Bay,  I  observed  the  remains  of  the  native 
habitations  to  have  the  appearance  of  extreme  old  age  and 
long  abandonment,  although,  from  the  fresh  seal-blubber 
caches,  there  was  not  a  doubt  of  the  Esquimaux  having  been 
there  the  previous  winter. 

A  mile  beyond  this  ruin  we  halted  for  the  night.  Four 
of  us  (for,  in  Arctic  travelling,  officer  and  man  are  united  by 
the  common  bond  of  labour)  erected  the  tent  over  a  space 
which  we  had  cleared  of  the  larger  and  rougher  pieces  of 
limestone,  leaving  what  was  called  a  soft  spot  as  our  castle 
and  bedroom.  One  man,  who  dubbed  himself  cook  for  the 
day,  with  a  mate,  whose  turn  it  would  be  to  superintend  the 
kitchen  on  the  morrow,  proceeded  to  cook  the  dinner.  The 
cooking  apparatus  was  a  boat's  stove,  eighteen  inches  long, 
and  nine  inches  broad,  in  which  lignum  vitas  was  used  as 
fuel. 

Water  having  first  to  be  made  from  ice  and  snow,  and 


A    WINTER'S  EVENING.  115 

then  boiled  in  the  open  air,  the  process  was  not  an  expedi 
tious  one,  and  I  took  my  gun  and  struck  inland  ;  whilst  Mr. 
May,  in  an  opposite  direction,  made  for  a  point  of  land  to 
the  westward. 

No  pen  can  tell  of  the  unredeemed  loneliness  of  an  October 
evening  in  this  part  of  the  polar  world :  the  monotonous, 
rounded  outline  of  the  adjacent  hills,  as  well  as  the  flat,  un 
meaning  valleys,  were  of  one  uniform  colour,  either  deadly 
white  with  snow  or  striped  with  brown  where  too  steep  for 
the  winter  mantle  as  yet  to  find  a  holding  ground.  You  felt 
pity  for  the  shivering  blade  of  grass,  which,  at  your  feet, 
was  already  drooping  under  the  cold  and  icy  hand  that  would 
press  it  down  to  mother  earth  for  nine  long  months.  Talk 
of  "antres  vast  and  deserts  idle," — talk  of  the  sadness  awa 
kened  in  the  wanderer's  bosom  by  the  lone  scenes,  be  it  even 
by  the  cursed  waters  of  Judea,  or  afflicted  lands  of  Assyria, — • 
give  me,  I  say,  death  in  any  one  of  them,  with  the  good  sun 
and  a  bright  heaven  to  whisper  hope,  rather  than  the  solitary 
horrors  of  such  scenes  as  these.  The  very  wind  scorned 
courtesy  to  such  a  repulsive  landscape,  and  as  the  stones 
rattled  down  the  slope  of  a  ravine  before  the  blast,  it  only 
recalled  dead  men's  bones,  and  motion  in  a  catacomb.  A 
truce,  however,  to  such  thoughts — May's  merry  recognition 
breaks  the  stillness  of  the  frosty  air.  He  has  been  to  the 
point,  and  finds  it  an  island ;  he  says — and  I  vow  he  means 
what  he  says — that  May  Island  is  a  beautiful  spot !  it  has 
grass  and  moss  upon  it,  and  traces  of  game :  next  year  he 
intends  to  bag  many  a  hare  there.  Sanguine  feelings  are 
infectious  ;  I  forget  my  own  impressions,  adopt  his  rosy  ones, 
and  we  walk  back  to  our  tent,  guided  by  the  smoke,  plotting 
plans  for  shooting  excursions  in  1851  ! 

"Pemmiean  is  all  ready,  sir!"  reports  our  Soyer.  In 
troth,  appetite  need  wait  on  one,  for  the  greasy  compound 


116  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

would  pall  on  moderate  taste  or  hunger.  Tradition  said  that 
it  was  composed  of  the  best  rump-steaks  and  suet,  and  cost 
Is.  6d.  per  pound,  but  we  generally  voted  it  composed  of 
broken-down  horses  and  Russian  tallow.  If  not  sweet  in 
savour,  it  was  strong  in  nourishment,  and  after  six  table- 
spoonfuls,  the  most  ravenous  feeder  might  have  cried,  hold ! 
enough ! 

Frozen  pork,  which  had  been  boiled  on  board  the  ship, 
was  quite  a  treat,  and  decidedly  better  than  cold,  thawed 
pork  could  have  been  ;  this,  with  plenty  of  biscuit  and  a 
"jolly  hot"  basin  of  tea,  and,  as  one  of  the  seamen  observed, 
"an  invitation  to  Windsor  would  have  been  declined."  The 
meal  done,  the  tent  was  carefully  swept  out,  the  last  careful 
arrangement  of  the  pebbles,  termed  "picking  the  feathers," 
was  made,  and  then  a  water-proof  sheet  spread,  to  prevent 
our  warm  bodies,  during  the  night,  melting  the  frozen  ground 
and  wetting  us  through.  Then  every  man  his  blanket  bag,  a 
genera]  popping  thereinto  of  the  legs  and  body,  in  order  that 
the  operation  of  undressing  might  be  decently  performed,  the 
jacket  and  wet  boots  carefully  arranged  for  a  pillow ;  the 
wolf-skin  robes, — Oh,  that  the  contractor  may  be  haunted  by 
the  aroma  of  the  said  robes  for  his  life-time ! — brought  along 
both  over  and  under  the  party,  who  lie  down  alternately, 
head  and  feet  in  a  row,  across  the  tent.  Pipes  are  lighted, 
the  evening's  glass  of  grog  served  out ;  and  whilst  the  cook 
is  washing  up,  and  preparing  his  things  ready  for  the  morning 
meal,  as  well  as  securing  the  food  on  the  sledges  from  foxes, 
or  a  hungry  bear,  many  a  tough  yarn  is  told,  or  joke  made, 
which  keep  all  hands  laughing  until  the  cook  reports  all  right, 
comes  in,  hooks  up  the  door,  tucks  in  the  fur  robe ;  and 
seven  jolly  mortals,  with  a  brown-holland  tent  over  their 
heads,  and  a  winter's  gale  without,  try  to  nestle  their  sides 
amongst  the  softest  stones,  and  at  last  drop  into  such  a  sleep 


AUTUMNAL   TRAVELLING.  117 

as  those  only  enjoy  who  drug  a  sledge  all  day,  with  the  tem 
perature  30°  below  freezing  point. 

Friday  morning,  at  seven  o'clock,  we  rolled  up  our  beds, 
or  rather  sleeping-bags,  stowod  the  sledge,  drank  boiling  hot 
chocolate,  and  gnawed  cheerily  at  frozen  pork  and  biscuit ; 
the  weather  beautiful,  calm,  and  very  cold,  below  zero,  we 
started,  skirting  round  the  bay.  By  noon  a  gale  sprung  up, 
sending  a  body  of  icy  spiculas  against  our  faces,  causing  both 
pain  and  annoyance.  Two  mock  suns  for  the  first  time  were 
seen  to-day.  At  noon  we  sat  down  under  the  lee  of  our 
sledge,  and  partook  of  a  mouthful  of  grog  and  biscuit,  and 
again  marched  rapidly  towards  "Cape  No  Name!"  By  the 
evening  we  had  marched  fourteen  miles,  the  entire  circuit  of 
the  bay,  without  observing  any  trace  of  Franklin  having 
visited  the  neighbourhood ;  and  as  frost-bites  began  to 
attack  our  faces,  we  erected  our  tent  as  expeditiously  as 
possible,  and  in  it  took  shelter  from  the  wind  and  cold.  The 
pungent  smoke  of  the  lignum  vita3  kept  us  weeping,  as  long 
as  the  cooking  went  on ;  and  between  the  annoyance  of  it, 
the  cold,  and  fatigue,  we  all  dropped  off  to  sleep,  indifferent 
to  a  falling  temperature,  prowling  bears,  or  a  violent  gale, 
which  threatened  to  blow  us  from  the  beach  on  which  we  had 
pitched  our  fluttering  tent. 

Next  day,  my  work  being  done,  we  struck  homeward 
for  the  squadron,  and  reached  it  the  same  evening,  the  said 
12th  of  October  being  the  last  autumnal  travelling  of  our 
squadron. 

The  following  week  the  temperature  rallied  a  little,  and 
the  weather  was  generally  finer ;  our  preparations  for  winter 
ing  were  nearly  completed,  and  the  poor  sickly  sun  barely 
for  two  hours  a  day  rose  above  the  heights  of  Griffith's 
Island. 

To  our  great  joy,  on  the  17th  of  October,  Captain  Penny 


118  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

came  over  from  Assistance  Harbour.  He  had  happily  de 
cided  on  taking  up  the  search  of  Wellington  Channel ;  and 
an  understanding  was  come  to,  that  his  squadron  should  carry 
out  the  travelling  operations  next  spring  on  that  route,  whilst 
our  squadron  accomplished  the  farthest  possible  distance 
towards  Melville  Island,  and  from  Cape  Walker  to  the  south 
west. 

Captain  P.  expressed  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  Americans 
had  not  escaped  out  of  Barrow's  Strait,  in  consequence  of  a 
sudden  gale  springing  up  from  the  southward,  shortly  after 
they  had  passed  his  winter  quarters.  This  supposition  we 
of  course  afterwards  found  to  be  true,  although  at  the  time 
we  all  used  to  speak  of  the  Americans  as  being  safe  and  snug 
in  New  York,  instead  of  drifting  about  in  the  ice,  within  a 
few  miles  of  us,  as  was  really  the  case. 

With  Penny's  return  to  his  vessels,  may  be  said  to  have 
closed  all  the  Arctic  operations  of  the  year  1850.  Our  upper 
decks  were  now  covered  in ;  stoves  and  warming  apparatus 
set  at  work ;  boats  secured  on  the  ice ;  all  the  lumber  taken 
off  the  upper  decks,  to  clear  them  for  exercise  in  bad  weather ; 
masts  and  yards  made  as  snug  as  possible ;  rows  of  posts 
placed  to  show  the  road  in  the  darkness  and  snow-storms 
from  ship  to  ship ;  holes  cut  through  the  ice  into  the  sea,  to 
secure  a  ready  supply  of  water,  in  the  event  of  fire  ;  arrange 
ments  made  to  insure  cleanliness  of  ships  and  crews,  and  a 
winter  routine  entered  upon,  which  those  curious  in  such 
matters  may  find  fully  detailed  in  Parry's  "  First  Voyage," 
or  Ross's  "  Four  Years  in  Boothia." 

The  building  of  snow- walls,  posts,  houses,  &c.,  was  at  first 
a  source  of  amusement  to  the  men,  and  gave  them  a  great 
field  in  which  to  exercise  their  skill  and  ingenuity.  People 
at  home  would,  I  think,  have  been  delighted  to  see  the  pretty 
and  tasteful  things  cut  out  of  snow:  obelisks,  sphinxes,  vases, 


AX  ARCTIC  PRAYER.  119 

cannon,  and,  lastly,  a  stately  Britannia,  looking  to  the  west 
ward,  enlivened  the  floe,  and  gave  voluntary  occupation  to 
the  crews  of  the  vessels.  These,  however,  only  served  for  a 
while;  and  as  the  arctic  night  of  months  closed  in,  every 
one's  wits  were  exerted  to  the  utmost  to  invent  occupation 
and  entertainment  for  our  little  community. 

On  November  the  8th,  two  officers  ascended  the  heights 
of  Griffith's  Island,  and  at  noontide  caught  the  last  glimpse 
of  the  sun,  as  it  happened  to  be  thrown  up  by  refraction, 
though  in  reality  it  was  seventeen  miles  below  our  horizon. 
We  were  now  fairly  about  to  undergo  a  dark,  arctic  winter, 
in  74^  degrees  of  north  latitude ;  and  light-hearted  and  con 
fident  as  we  felt  in  our  resources  of  every  description,  one 
could  not,  when  looking  around  the  dreary  scene  which 
spread  around  us  on  every  side,  but  feel  how  much  our  lives 
were  in  His  hands  who  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb ; 
and  wanting  must  he  have  been  in  feeling  who  did  not  offer 
up  a  heartfelt  prayer  that  returning  day  and  returning  sum 
mer  might  find  him  able  and  fit  to  undergo  the  hardship  and 
fatigue  of  journeys  on  foot,  to  seek  for  his  long-lost  fellow- 
seamen.  On  leaving  England,  amongst  the  many  kind, 
thoughtful  presents,  both  public  and  private,  none  struck  me 
as  being  more  appropriate  than  the  following  form  of  prayer : — 

A    PRAYER    FOR    THE    ARCTIC    EXPEDITION. 

"O  Lord  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  teachest  man 
knowledge,  and  givest  him  skill  and  power  to  accomplish  his 
designs,  we  desire  continually  to  wait,  and  call,  and  depend 
upon  Thee.  Thy  .way  is  in  the  sea,  and  Thy  paths  in  the 
great  waters.  Thou  rulest  and  commandest  all  things.  We 
therefore  draw  nigh  unto  Thee  for  help  in  the  great  work 
which  we  now  have  to  do. 

"  Leave  us  not,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  our  own  counsel,  nor 


120  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

to  the  imaginations  of  our  own  foolish  and  deceitful  hearts : 
but  lead  us  by  the  way  wherein  we  should  go,  that  discretion 
may  preserve  us,  and  understanding  may  keep  us.  Do  Thou, 
O  Lord,  make  our  way  prosperous,  and  give  us  Thy  blessing 
and  good  success.  Bring  all  needful  things  to  our  remem 
brance  ;  and  where  we  have  not  the  presence  of  mind,  nor 
the  ability,  to  perform  Thy  will,  magnify  Thy  power  in  our 
weakness.  Let  Thy  good  providence  be  our  aid  and  protec 
tion,  and  Thy  Holy  Spirit  our  Guide  and  Comforter,  that  we 
may  be  defended  from  all  adversities  which  may  happen  to 
the  body,  and  from  all  evil  thoughts  which  may  assault  and 
hurt  the  soul.  Endue  us  with  such  strength  and  patience  as 
may  carry  us  through  every  toil  and  danger,  whether  by  sea 
or  land  ;  and.  if  it  be  Thy  good  pleasure,  vouchsafe  to  us  a 
safe  return  to  our  families  and  homes. 

"  And,  as  Thy  Holy  Word  teaches  us  to  pray  for  others, 
as  \vell  as  for  ourselves,  we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  of 
Thy  goodness,  O  Lord,  to  comfort  and  succour  all  those  who 
are  in  trouble,  sorrow,  need,  sickness,  or  any  other  adversity, 
especially  such  as  may  now  be  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  the 
deep,  or  afflicted  with  cold  and  hunger.  Bestow  upon  them 
Thy  rich  mercies,  according  to  their  several  wants  and  ne 
cessities,  and  deliver  them  out  of  their  distress.  They  are 
known  to  Thee  by  name,  let  them  be  known  of  Thee  as  the 
children  of  Thy  grace  and  love.  Bless  us  all  with  Thy  fa 
vour,  in  which  is  life,  and  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ 
Jesus;  and  grant  us  so  to  pass  the  waves  of  this  troublesome 
world,  that  finally  we  may  come  unto  Thy  everlasting  king 
dom.  Grant  this,  for  Thy  dear  Son's  sake,  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  Amen" 

While  touching  on  a  religious  point  connected  with  our 
expedition,  I  must  say,  that  as  yet  we  have  not  in  the  Navy 


WINTER  OCCUPATIONS.  121 

a  single  good  set  of  sermons  adapted  to  interest  and  instruct 
the  seamen.  The  commander,  or  commanding  officer,  of  a 
man-of-war  usually  reads,  in  the  absence  of  the  chaplain,  the 
Divine  Service  on  Sundays.  We,  of  course,  did  not  fail  to 
do  so  ;  but  1  never  saw  an  English  sailor  who  would  sit  down 
and  listen  attentively  to  the  discussion  of  some  knotty  text, 
exhibiting  far  more  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  some  learned 
commentator,  than  simplicity  and  clearness  adapted  to  plain, 
uninformed  minds  :  in  a  future  expedition,  and,  indeed,  in 
the  Navy  generally,  it  is  to  be  hoped  this  deficiency  will  be 
remedied.  Sermons  in  the  pure  and  Christianlike  tone  of 
Porteus's  Lent  Lectures,  1  would  humbly  recommend  as  a 
guide  for  those  who  may  be  inclined  to  take  the  good  work 
in  hand. 

A  theatre,  a  casino,  and  a  saloon,  two  Arctic  newspapers, 
one  of  them  an  illustrated  one,  evening-schools,  and  instruc 
tive  lectures,  gave  no  one  an  excuse  for  being  idle.  The 
officers  and  men  voluntarily  imposed  on  themselves  various 
duties  in  connection  with  the  different  departments ;  one 
was  scene-painter,  and  under  his  talented  pencil  the  canvas 
glowed  with  pictures  one  almost  grieved  to  see  thus  em 
ployed.  Decorators  and  statuaries  produced  effects  which, 
with  such  limited  means,  were  really  astounding;  vocalists 
and  musicians  practised  and  persevered  until  an  instrumental 
band  and  glee-club  were  formed,  to  our  general  delight; 
officers  and  men  sung  who  never  sang  before,  and  maybe, 
except  under  similar  circumstances,  will  never  sing  again  ; 
maskers  had  to  construct  their  own  masks,  and  sew  their  own 
dresses,  the  signal  flags  serving  in  lieu  of  a  supply  from  the 
milliner's ;  and,  with  wonderful  ingenuity,  a  fancy  dress  ball 
was  got  up,  which,  in  variety  and  tastefulness  of  costume, 
would  have  borne  comparison  with  any  one  in  Europe. 

Here,    editors    floundered    through   a   leader,    exhibiting 

r> 


122  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

French  ingenuity,  in  saying  their  say  without  bringing  them 
selves  within  the  grasp  of  the  censors ;  here,  rough  contribu 
tors,  whose  hands,  more  accustomed  to  the  tar-brush  than 
the  pen,  turned  flowing  sentences  by  the  aid  of  old  mis 
cellanies  and  well-thumbed  dictionaries.  There,  on  wooden 
stools,  leaning  over  long  tables,  were  a  row  of  serious  and 
anxious  faces,  which  put  one  in  mind  of  the  days  of  cane  and 
birch, — an  Arctic  school.  Tough  old  marines  curving  "  pot 
hooks  and  hangers,"  as  if  their  very  lives  depended  on  their 
performances,  with  an  occasional  burst  of  petulance,  .such  as, 
"  D —  the  pen,  it  won't  write  !  I  beg  pardon,  sir ;  this  'ere 
pen  will  splutter !"  which  set  the  scholars  in  a  roar.  Then 
some  big-whiskered  top-man,  with  slate  in  hand,  reciting  his 
multiplication-table,  and  grinning  at  approval  ;  whilst  a 
"  scholar,"  as  the  cleverest  were  termed,  gave  the  instructor 
a  hard  task  to  preserve  his  learned  superiority. 

In  an  adjoining  place,  an  observer  might  notice  a  tier  of 
attentive,  upturned  faces,  listening,  like  children  to  some 
nursery-tale.  It  was  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  "  Resolute," 
my  much-loved,  faithful  friend  ;  he  was  telling  them  of  the 
deeds  of  their  forefathers  in  these  regions.  Parry's  glorious 
pages  open  by  his  side,  he  told  those  stern  men  with  tender 
hearts,  of  the  sufferings,  the  enterprise,  the  courage,  and  the 
reward  of  imperishable  renown  exhibited  and  won  by  others. 
The  glistening  eye  and  compressed  lip  showed  how  the  good 
seed  had  taken  root  in  the  listeners  around,  and  every  even 
ing  saw  that  sailor  audience  gather  around  him  whom  they 
knew  to  be  the  "gallant  and  true,"  to  share  in  his  feelings 
and  borrow  from  his  enthusiasm. 

For  some  time  after  the  sun  had  ceased  to  visit  our 
heavens,  the  southern  side  of  the  horizon,  for  a  few  hours  at 
noon,  was  strongly  illumined,  the  sky  being  shaded,  from 
deep  and  rosy  red  through  all  the  most  delicate  tints  of  pink 


WINTER  SCENERY.  123 

and  blue,  until,  in  the  north,  a  cold  bluish-black  scowled 
angrily  over  the  pale  mountains,  who,  in  widowed  loneliness, 
had  drawn  their  cowls  of  snow  around,  and,  uncheered  by  the 
roseate  kiss  of  the  bridegroom  sun,  seemed  to  mourn  over  the 
silence  and  darkness  at  their  feet.  Such  was  a  fine  day  in 
November,  and  through  the  gray  twilight  the  dark  forms  of 
our  people,  as  they  traversed  the  floe,  or  scaled  the  cliffs  of 
Griffith's  Island,  or,  maybe,  occasionally  hunted  a  bear,  com 
pleted  the  scene. 

Charmed  as  we  were  with  the  evanescent  colouring  of  our 
sky  on  a  fine  day,  it  was  in  loveliness  far  surpassed  by  the 
exceeding  beauty  of  Arctic  moonlight.  Daylight  but  served 
to  show  the  bleakness  of  frozen  sea  and  land  ;  but  a  full,  sil 
very  moon,  wheeling  around  the  zenith  for  several  days  and 
nights,  threw  a  poetry  over  every  thing,  which  reached  and 
glowed  in  the  heart,  in  spite  of  intense  frost  and  biting 
breeze.  At  such  a  time  we  were  wont  to  pull  on  our  warm 
jackets  and  seal-skin  caps,  and,  striding  out  upon  the  floe, 
enjoy  to  the  utmost  the  elasticity  of  health  and  spirits  with 
which  we  were  blest  under  so  bracing  a  climate.  There, 
with  one's  friend,  the  mutual  recognition  of  Nature's  beauties 
and  congratulations,  at  being  there  to  witness  it,  richly  re 
warded  us  for  our  isolation  from  the  world  of  our  fellow- 
men  ;  and  general  enthusiasm  had  its  full  sway  as,  from  the 
heights  of  Griffith's  Island,  we  looked  down  on  our  squadron, 
whose  masts  alone  pierced  the  broad  white  expanse  over 
Barrow's  Strait,  and  threw  long  shadows  across  the  floe. 
The  noble  mission  for  which  they  had  been  sent  into  the  north 
was  ever  present  to  us,  and  away  instinctively  flew  our 
thoughts  to  our  gallant  friends  in  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Ter 
ror  :"  thus  alternately  elated  and  saddened,  we  enjoyed,  with 
earnest  feelings,  the  wondrous  scene  around  us. 

Imagine  yourself,  dear  reader,  on  the  edge  of  a  lofty  table- 


124  ARGTIG  JOURNAL. 

land,  which,  dipping  suddenly  at  your  feet,  sloped  again  to 
the  sea  of  ice,  at  a  distance  of  some  500  feet  below ;  fancy  a 
vast  plain  of  ice  and  snow,  diversified  by  tiers  of  broken-np 
ice  and  snow-wreaths,  which,  glistening  on  the  one  side, 
reflected  back  the  moonlight  with  an  exceeding  brilliancy, 
whilst  the  strong  shadow  on  the  farther  side  of  the  masses 
threw  them  out  in  strong  relief;  four  lone  barks,  atoms  in 
the  extensive  landscape, — the  observers'  home, — and  beyond 
them,  on  the  horizon,  sweeping  in  many  a  bay,  valley,  and 
headland,  the  coast  of  Cornwallis  Island,  now  bursting  upon 
the  eye  in  startling  distinctness,  then  receding  into  shadow 
and  gloom,  and  then  anon  diversified  with  flickering  shades, 
like  an  autumnal  landscape  in  our  own  dear  land,  as  the 
fleecy  clouds  sailed  slowly  across  the  moon, — she  the  while 
riding  through  a  heaven  of  deepest  blue,  richly  illuminated 
by  the  constellations  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  wheeling 
around  the  Polar  Star  like  armies  in  review, — and  say  if  the 
North  has  not  its  charms  for  him  who  can  appreciate  such 
novel  aspects  of  Nature. 

If  you  still  doubt  it,  let  us  descend  the  adjacent  ravine, 
formed  as  if  some  giant  hand  had  rent  the  firm  cliff  from 
crown  to  basement;  stand  we  now  at  its  upper  entrance, 
where  it  slopes  away  to  the  table-land  behind, — didst  ever 
see  a  sight  more  wildly  beautiful  ]  The  grim  and  frowning 
buttresses  on  either  hand,  too  steep  for  even  the  snow-flake 
to  rest  upon,  whilst  over  its  brow  a  pigmy  glacier  topples 
with  graceful  curve,  or  droops  in  many  an  icy  wreath  and 
spray,  threatening  us  with  destruction  as  we  slide  down  the 
sharp  declivity.  Now,  with  many  a  graceful  curve,  the 
gorge  winds  down  to  the  frozen  sea,  a  glimpse  of  which 
forms  the  background  to  the  lower  entrance.  Observe  how 
the  snow,  which,  by  wintry  gales,  has  been  swept  into  the 
ravine,  has  hardened  into  masses,  resembling  naught  so 


OPEN  WATERS  IN  E 'ARROW'S  STRAIT.  125 

much  as  a  fierce  rapid  suddenly  congealed ;  and  then  look 
overhead,  to  a  deep  blue  sky,  spangled  with  a  million 
spheres ;  if  thou  couldst  have  seen  this,  and  much  more 
than  pen  or  tongues  can  tell,  and  not  admire  it,  then  I  say, 

"  God  help  thee, 
Thou  hast  reason  to  be  sad." 

As  late  as  the  18th  of  November,  wator,  in  a  broad  lane, 
was  seen  to  the  S.  E.  from  the  extreme  of  Griffith's  Island, 
showing  the  pack  to  be  in  motion  in  Barrow's  Strait,  a 
belief  we  otherwise  arrived  at  from  the  frequent  appearance 
of  a  water-sky  in  the  same  direction,  especially  after  spring 
tides  or  strong  N.  W.  gales.  A  few  bears,  perhaps  eight  in 
all,  visited  our  ships  during  the  closing  period  of  1850, 
showing  they  did  not  hibernate  immediately  the  sun  dis 
appeared  ;  indeed,  so  long  as  there  was  water  near  us,  they 
would  find  seal,  their  usual,  perhaps  their  only,  food.  And, 
apart  from  the  appearance  of  water  in  our  immediate  neigh 
bourhood,  we  were  convinced  that  Lancaster  Sound  was  still 
open,  from  the  sudden  rise  of  the  temperature  of  the  air, 
whenever  the  wind  drew  to  that  quarter;  and,  what  was 
more  extraordinary  still,  whenever  the  wind  was  from  the 
northward,  a  black  vapour,  a  certain  indication  of  water,  was 
seen  to  be  rolling  past  Cape  Hotham  out  of  Wellington 
Channel :  could  that  have  been  open  so  long  after  the  sea 
in  our  neighbourhood  was  closed  ? 

However,  to  return  to  the  bears.  Whenever  an  unlucky 
brute  was  seen,  the  severe  competition  as  to  who  should 
possess  his  skin,  entailed  no  small  risk  of  life  upon  the  hunt 
ers  as  well  as  the  proprietor  of  the  coveted  prize;  and 
crossing  the  line  of  fire  was  recklessly  performed,  in  a  man 
ner  to  have  shocked  an  "  Excellent"  gunner  or  a  Woolwich 
artilleryman.  Discretion  was  the  better  part  of  Ursine 


126  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

valour,  and  one  brute  was  alone  bagged,  although  a  good 
many  were  very  much  frightened  ;  the  frequent  chases,  and 
constant  failures,  giving  rise  to  much  quizzing  on  the  part 
of  the  unsportsmanlike,  and  learned  dissertations  by  the 
Nimrods  upon  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  bear-shooting. 
As  instances  of  what  risks  the  community  ran,  whilst  the 
furor  for  skins  was  at  its  height,  I  will  merely  say,  that  two 
unconscious  mortals  who  had  got  on  a  hummock  to  see 
around,  were  mistaken  in  the  twilight  for  bears,  and  stood 
fire  from  a  rifle,  which,  happily  for  them,  on  this  occasion, 
missed  its  mark;  and  one  day,  a  respectable  individual, 
trotting  among  the  snow  ridges,  was  horrified  to  see  on  a 
piece  of  canvas,  in  large  letters,  "Beware  of  spring-guns!" 
Picture  to  oneself  the  person's  feelings.  How  was  he  to 
escape?  The  next  tread  of  his  foot,  and,  maybe,  off  into 
his  body  might  be  discharged  the  murderous  barrel  secreted 
for  a  bear.  Fate  decreed  otherwise ;  the  alarmed  seaman 
escaped  ;  and  the  spring-gun  was  banished  to  some  lonely 
ravine,  from  which  the  proprietor  daily  anticipated  a  dead 
bear,  and  I,  a  dead  shipmate ;  some  of  whom,  pining  for 
forlorn  damsels  at  home,  were  led  to  sentimentalize  in 
retired  places. 

My  captain  of  the  forecastle,  whose  sporting  propensities 
I  have  elsewhere  noted,  cured  me  of  a  momentary  mania  for 
trophies  of  the  chase,  thus  :  a  large  bear  and  cub,  after 
coming  towards  the  "Pioneer,"  for  some  time  halted,  and 
•were  fired  at  by  three  officers  with  guns  :  of  the  three  barrels 
only  one  went  off,  wounding  the  cub,  which,  with  its  mother, 
made  for  Griffith's  Island.  I  chased,  followed  by  some  of  the 
men,  the  foremost  of  whom  was  my  ancient  mariner,  who 
kept  close  to  my  heels,  urging  me  on  by  declaring  we  were 
fast  catching  the  brutes.  We  decidedly  had  done  so.  By 
the  time  I  reached  the  island,  and  both  bears  were  within 


CHRISTMAS-DAY  OX  BOARD.  127 

shot,  climbing  up,  with  cat-like  agility,  the  steep  face  of  the 
cliffs,  again  and  again  I  failed  to  get  my  gun  off;  and  as  the 
she-bear  looked  at  one  time  inclined  to  come  down  and  see 
who  the  bipeds  were  that  had  chased  her,  I  looked  round  at 
my  supporters,  who  were  vehemently  exclaiming  that  "  we 
should  have  her  in  a  minute  !"  They  consisted  of  Old 
Abbot,  armed  with  a  snow-knife,  and  some  men  who  ran, 
because  they  saw  others  doing  so.  Now,  a  snow-knife  con 
sists  of  nothing  more  than  a  piece  of  old  iron  beaten  out  on 
an  anvil  so  as  to  cut  snow,  having  an  edge,  which,  when  I 
anxiously  asked  if  it  was  sharp,  I  was  figuratively  told,  "  The 
owner,  John  Abbot,  could  have  ridden  to  the  devil  upon  it 
without  injury  to  his  person."  Yet,  with  this,  I  verily  believe, 
the  old  seaman  would  have  entered  the  list  against  the  teeth 
and  talons  of  Mistress  Bruin.  I  objected,  however,  and 
allowed  her  to  escape  with  becoming  thankfulness. 

Christmas-day  was,  of  course,  not  forgotten,  and  our  best, 
though  humble  fare  was  displayed  in  each  of  the  vessels. 
Hospitality  and  good-fellowship,  however,  were  not  confined 
to  this  day  alone ;  and  had  not  the  bond  of  friendship,  which 
knit  the  officers  and  men  of  the  squadron  together,  taught 
them  the  necessity  of  sharing  the  little  they  had,  the  open- 
handed  liberality  of  our  hospitable  leader  would  have  done 
so.  At  his  table,  petty  differences,  professional  heart-burn 
ings,  and  quarter-deck  etiquette,  were  forgotten  and  laid 
aside.  A  liberal  and  pleasant  host  made  merry  guests  ;  and 
amongst  the  many  ways  in  which  we  strove  to  beguile  the 
winter  of  1850-51,  none  have  more  agreeable  recollections 
than  his  dinner-parties. 

It  may  not  here  be  out  of  place  to  describe  the  ordi 
nary  clothing  worn,  as  yet,  by  officers  and  men :  the  tem 
perature  ranging  often  as  low  as  35°  below  zero,  with  strong 
gales  :— 


128  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Clothing  when  indoors.  Additional  for  ivalking. 

1  Flannel  shirt  with  sleeves.  Box-cloth  pea  jacket. 

1  Cotton          ditto.  Welsh  wig. 

1  Waistcoat  with  sleeves,  lined  Seal- skin  cap. 

with  flannel.  Beaver-skin  mitts. 

1  Drawers  flannel.  Shawl  or  comfortahle. 

1  Pair  trowsers,  box-cloth,  lined  Men  with   tender   faces   re- 

with  flannel.  quired  a   cloth   face-cover 

1  Pair  thick  stockings.  in  the  wind. 
1  Do.  thin  ditto. 
1  Horse-hair  sole. 
1  Pair  carpet  boots. 

January,  1851. — That  we  were  all  paler,  was  perceptible 
to  every  one  ;  but  only  a  few  had  lost  flesh.  A  very  little 
exercise  was  found  to  tire  one  very  soon,  and  appetites  were 
generally  on  the  decrease.  For  four  hours  a-day,  we  all.  men 
and  officers,  made  a  point  of  facing  the  external  air,  let  the 
temperature  be  what  it  would ;  and  this  rule  was  carefully 
adhered  to,  until  the  return  of  the  sun  naturally  induced 
us  to  lengthen  our  excursions.  Only  on  three  occasions  was 
the  weather  too  severe  for  communication  between  the 
vessels,  and  the  first  of  these  occurred  in  the  close  of 
December  and  commencement  of  January.  To  show 
one's  face  outboard,  was  then  an  impossibility  ;  the  gale 
swept  before  it  a  body  of  snow  higher  than  our  trucks, 
and  hid  every  thing  a  few  yards  off  from  sight.  The 
"Resolute,"  three  hundred  yards  off,  was  invisible;  arid 
the  accumulation  of  snow  upon  our  housing,  threatened  to 
burst  it  in.  The  floe  seemed  to  tremble  as  the  gale  shrieked 
over  its  surface,  and  tore  up  the  old  snow-drifts  and  deposited 
them  afresh.  A  wilder  scene  man  never  saw  :  it  was  worthy 
of  the  Arctic  regions,  and  a  fit  requiem  for  the  departing 
year. 


AURORAS  AND   CLOUDLESS  SKIES.  129 

After  one  of  these  gales,  walking  on  the  floe  was  a  work 
of  much  difficulty,  in  consequence  of  the  irregular  surface  it 
presented  to  the  foot.  The  snow-ridges,  called  sastrugi  by 
the  Russians,  run  (where  unobstructed  by  obstacles  which 
caused  a  counter-current)  in  parallel  lines,  waving  and 
winding  together,  and  so  close  and  hard  on  the  edges,  that 
the  foot,  huge  and  clumsy  as  it  was  with  warm  clothing  and 
thick  soles,  slipped  about  most  helplessly  ;  and  we,  therefore, 
had  to  wait  until  a  change  of  wind  had,  by  a  cross  drift,  filled 
up  the  ridges  thus  formed,  before  we  took  long  walks  ;  and 
on  the  road  between  the  vessels  parties  were  usually  em 
ployed  mending  the  roads. 

With  one  portion  of  the  phenomena  of  the  North  Sea,  we 
were  particularly  disappointed — and  this  was  the  aurora.  The 
colours,  in  all  cases,  were  vastly  inferior  to  those  seen  by  us 
in  far  southern  latitudes,  a  pale  golden  or  straw  colour 
being  the  prevailing  hue  ;  the  most  striking  part  of  it  was 
its  apparent  proximity  to  the  earth.  Once  or  twice  the 
auroral  coruscations  accompanied  a  moon  in  its  last  quarter, 
and  generally  previous  to  bad  weather.  On  one  occasion,  in 
Christmas-week,  the  light  played  about  the  edge  of  a  low 
vapour  which  hung  at  a  very  small  altitude  over  us ;  it  never, 
on  this  occasion,  lit  up  the  whole  under-surface  of  the  said 
clouds,  but  formed  a  series  of  concentric  semicircles  of  light, 
with  dark  spaces  between,  which  waved,  glistened,  and  van 
ished,  like  moonlight  upon  a  heaving,  but  unbroken  sea. 

At  other  times,  a  stream  of  the  same  coloured  vapour 
would  span  the  heavens  through  the  zenith,  and  from  it 
would  shoot  sprays  of  pale  orange  colour  for  many  hours ; 
and  then  the  mysterious  light  would  again  as  suddenly 
vanish. 

Clouds  may  have  been  said  to  have  absented  themselves 
from  our  sky  for  at  least  two  months  of  the  winter  ;  the 

6* 


130  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

heavens,  the  stars,  and  moon,  were  often  obscured,  but  it 
invariably  appeared  to  be  from  snow-drift  rather  than  from  a 
cloudy  sky.  Snow  fell  incessantly,  even  on  the  clearest  day, 
consisting  of  minute  spiculse,  hardly  perceptible  to  the  eye, 
but  which  accumulated  rapidly,  and  soon  covered  any  thing 
left  in  the  open  air  for  a  few  minutes.  With  returning  day 
light,  and  the  promise  of  the  sun,  clouds  again  dotted  the 
southern  heavens,  and  mottled  with  beautiful  mackerel  skies 
the  dome  above  us. 

The  immense  quantity  of  snow  which  in  a  gale  is  kept 
suspended  in  the  air  by  the  action  of  the  wind,  and  is  termed 
drift,  quite  astounded  us ;  and  on  two  occasions,  with  north 
westerly  gales,  we  had  a  good  opportunity  of  noting  its  accu 
mulation.  The  "  Pioneer"  and  "  Intrepid"  laying  across  the 
wind,  the  counter-current  caused  a  larger  deposition  around 
us  than  elsewhere.  On  the  first  occasion,  after  the  wind  sub 
sided,  we  found  a  snow-wreath  along  the  weather-side  of  the 
vessel  for  a  length  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  about 
eleven  feet  deep  in  the  deepest  part,  and  sloping  gradually 
away  for  one  hundred  yards.  After  weighing  a  cubic  foot  of 
the  snow,  I  calculated  that,  at  the  lowest  computation,  the 
mass  thus  deposited  in  twenty-four  hours  was  not  less  than 
four  hundred  tons  in  weight !  How  the  floe  bore  the  pressure 
seemed  unaccountable  to  me ;  but  it  did  around  the  "  Pio 
neer,"  although  that  near  the  "  Intrepid"  broke  down,  and 
the  water  flowed  up  above  the  snow,  forming  it  rapidly  into 
ice. 

Much  later  in  the  winter — indeed  in  the  month  of  March 
— a  succession  of  furious  gales  quite  smothered  us  ;  the  drift 
piled  up  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  winter  housing,  which  was 
fifteen  feet  above  the  deck,  and  then  blew  over  to  leeward, 
filling  up  on  that  side  likewise ;  whilst  we,  unable  to  face  the 
storm  without,  could  only  prevent  the  housing  from  being 


WINTER  EMPLOYMENTS.  131 

broken  in,  by  placing  props  of  planks  and  spars  to  support 
the  superincumbent  weight.  We  had  actually  to  dig  our 
way  out  of  the  vessel ;  and  I  know  riot  how  we  should  have 
freed  the  poor  smothered  craft,  had  not  Nature  assisted  us, 
by  the  breaking  down  of  the  floe.  This  at  first  threatened  to 
injure  and  strain  the  "  Pioneer,"  for,  firmly  held  as  she  was 
all  round,  the  vessel  was  immersed  some  two  feet  deeper 
than  she  ought  to  have  been  by  the  subsiding  ice.  We  set 
to  work,  however,  to  try  and  liberate  her,  when  one  night  a 
series  of  loud  reports  awakened  me,  and  the  quarter-master 
at  the  same  time  ran  down  to  say,  in  his  quaint  phraseology, 
that  "  she  was  a  going  off!"  a  fact  of  which  there  was  no 
doubt,  as,  with  sudden  surges,  the  "  Pioneer"  overcame  the 
hold  the  floe  had  taken  of  her  poor  sides,  and  after  some  time 
she  floated  again  at  her  true  water-line  ;  while  the  mountain 
of  snow  around  us  had  sunk  to  the  level  of  the  floe,  and  at 
first  formed  enormously  thick  ice;  but  this  in  time,  by  the 
action  of  the  under-currents  of  warm  water,  reduced  itself  to 
the  ordinary  thickness  of  the  adjoining  floe. 

Before  we  enter  upon  the  subject  of  returning  spring,  and 
the  new  occupations  and  excitement  which  it  called  forth,  let 
me  try  to  convey  an  idea  of  a  day  spent  in  total  darkness, 
as  far  as  the  sun  was  concerned. 

Fancy  the  lower  deck  and  cabins  of  a  ship,  lighted  entirely 
by  candles  and  oil  lamps  ;  every  aperture  by  which  external 
air  could  enter,  unless  under  control,  carefully  secured,  and 
all  doors  doubled,  to  prevent  draughts.  It  is  breakfast-time, 
and  reeking  hot  cocoa  from  every  mess-table  is  sending  up  a 
dense  vapour,  which,  in  addition  to  the  breath  of  so  many 
souls,  fills  the  space  between  decks  with  mist  and  fog. 
Should  you  go  on  deck  (and  remember  you  go  from  50° 
above  zero  to  40°  below  it,  in  eight  short  steps),  a  column 
of  smoke  will  be  seen  rising  through  certain  apertures  called 


132  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

ventilators,  whilst  others  are  supplying  a  current  of  pure  air. 
Breakfast  done, — and,  from  the  jokes  and  merriment,  it  has 
been  a  good  one, — there  is  a  general  pulling  on  of  warm 
clothing,  and  the  major  part  of  the  officers  and  men  go  on 
deck.  A  few  remain,  to  clean  and  clear  up,  arrange  for  the 
dinner,  and  remove  any  damp  or  ice  that  may  have  formed 
in  holes  or  corners  during  the  sleeping  hours.  This  done,  a 
muster  of  all  hands,  called  "  divisions,"  took  place.  Officers 
inspected  the  men,  and  every  part  of  the  ship,  to  see  both 
were  clean,  and  then  they  dispersed  to  their  several  duties, 
which  at  this  severe  season  were  very  light ;  indeed,  confined 
mainly  to  supply  the  cook  with  snow  to  melt  for  water, 
keeping  the  fire-hole  in  the  floe  open,  and  sweeping  the 
decks.  Knots  of  two  or  three  would,  if  there  was  not  a 
strong  gale  blowing,  be  seen  taking  exercise  at  a  distance 
from  the  vessels  ;  and  others,  strolling  under  the  lee,  dis 
cussed  the  past  and  prophesied  as  to  the  future.  At  noon, 
soups,  preserved  meats,  or  salt  horse,  formed  the  seamen's 
dinner,  with  the  addition  of  preserved  potatoes,  a  treat  which 
the  gallant  fellows  duly  appreciated.  The  officers  dined 
somewhat  later — 2  p.  M.  A  little  afternoon  exercise  was 
then  taken,  and  the  evening  meal,  of  tea,  next  partaken  of. 
If  it  was  school  night,  the  voluntary  pupils  went  to  their 
tasks,  the  masters  to  their  posts  ;  reading  men  producing 
their  books,  writing  men  their  desks,  artists  painted  by  can 
dle-light,  and  cards,  chess,  or  draughts,  combined  with  con 
versation,  and  an  evening's  glass  of  grog,  and  a  cigar  or  pipe, 
served  to  bring  round  bed-time  again. 

Monotony  was  our  enemy,  and  to  kill  time  our  endeav 
our:  hardships  there  was  none:  for  all  we  underwent  in 
winter  quarters,  in  the  shape  of  cold,  hunger,  or  danger,  was 
voluntary.  Monotony,  as  I  again  repeat,  was  the  only  dis 
agreeable  part  of  our  wintering  at  Griffith's  Island.  Some 


MASK  BALLS. 


133 


men  amongst  us  seemed  in  their  temperament  to  be  much 
better  able  to  endure  this  monotony  than  others :  and  others 
who  had  no  source  of  amusement — such  as  reading,  writing, 
or  drawing — were  much  to  be  pitied.  Nothing  struck  one 
more  than  the  strong  tendency  to  talk  of  home,  and  England  : 
it  became  quite  a  disease.  We,  for  the  most  part,  spoke  as 
if  all  the  most  affectionate  husbands,  dutiful  sons,  and  at 
tached  brothers,  had  found  their  way  into  the  Arctic  expedi 
tions.  From  these  maudlins,  to  which  the  most  strong- 
minded  occasionally  gave  way,  we  gladly  sought  refuge  in 
amusements, — such  as  theatres  and  balls.  To  give  an  idea 
of  the  zest  with  which  all  entered  these  gayeties,  I  will  recount 
a  list  of  the  characters  assumed  by  the  officers,  at  the  first 
fancy  dress  ball. 


Capt.  Austin    . 

Ommanney 
Lieut.  Aldrich . 

Cator     . 

M'Clintock 

Osborn  . 

Brown   . 

Mecham 
Dr.  Bonnet 
Bradford   . 
Ward 
Mr.  King 
Rearse 
May. 
Hamilton  . 
Eds  . 
Markham  . 
Cheyne 
M'Dougall 
Lewis 


Old  Chairs  to  mend. 

Mayor  of  Griffith's  Island. 

Fancy  dress. 

Old  English  Gentleman. 

Blue  Demon. 

Black  Domino. 

Red  Devil 

Blue  and  IVhite  Domino. 

A  Lady,  then  a  Friar. 

A  Capuchin. 

A  Beadle. 

Jockey. 

Smuggler. 

Roman  Soldier. 

A  Spinster. 

Spanish  Dancing  Girl. 

As  Allegory. 

Miss  Maria. 

Vivandiere. 

Farmer  Wapstraw. 


134  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Mr.  Allard  .  .  .  Mahomet  All. 

Webb  .  .  .  Bedouin  Arab. 

Harwood  .  .  .  Miss  Tdbitha  Flick. 

Allen  .  .  .  Greenwich  Pensioner. 

Brooman  .  .  .  Punch. 

Crabbe  .  .  .  Sir  Charles  Grandison. 

Richards  .  .  .  A  Scot. 

Whilst  pirates,  Turks,  gipsies,  and  ghosts,  without  number, 
chequered  the  ball-room. 

These  our  amusements ;  but  the  main  object  of  our 
coming  to  the  North  was  kept  constantly  in  view,  and  noth 
ing  that  labour  or  ingenuity  could  devise  towards  the  suc 
cessful  accomplishment  of  our  mission  was  wanting. 

Some  turned  their  attention  to  obtaining  information  for 
the  general  good,  upon  all  that  related  to  travelling  in  frozen 
regions ;  others  plodded  through  many  a  volume,  for  mete 
orological  information  upon  which  to  arrange  a  safe  period 
of  departure  for  the  travellers  in  the  spring ;  others  tried  to 
found  some  reasonable  theory  as  to  the  geography  of  the 
unexplored  regions  around  us ;  whilst  a  portion  more 
actively  employed  themselves  in  bringing  into  action  divers 
practical  means  of  communicating  with  our  missing  country 
men  which  had  been  supplied  to  us  in~England. 

Rockets,  in  the  calm  evenings  of  early  winter,  were  fired 
with  great  effect;  in  proof  of  which,  signals  were  several 
times  exchanged,  both  in  the  autumn  and  spring,  between 
Assistance  Harbour  and  our  squadron,  by  the  aid  of  these 
useful  projectiles,  although  the  distance  was  twenty  miles. 

The  balloons,  however,  as  a  more  novel  attempt  for  dis 
tant  signalizing,  or,  rather,  intercommunication,  were  a  sub 
ject  of  deep  interest.  The  plan  was  simple,  and  ingenious ; 
the  merit  of  the  idea,  as  applicable  to  the  relief  of  Sir  John 
Franklin,  by  communicating  to  him  intelligence  of  the  posi- 


ROCKETS.— BALLOONS.  135 

tion  of  the  searching  parties,  being  due  to  Mr.  Shepperd, 
c.  E.  It  was  as  follows  :  a  balloon  of  oiled  silk,  capable  of 
raising  about  a  pound  weight  when  inflated,  was  rilled  with 
hydrogen  evolved  from  a  strong  cask,  fitted  with  a  valve, 
in  which,  when  required  for  the  purpose,  a  certain  quantity 
of  zinc  filings  and  sulphuric  acid  had  been  introduced.  To 
the  base  of  the  balloon,  when  inflated,  a  piece  of  slow  match, 
five  feet  long,  was  attached,  its  lower  end  being  lighted. 
Along  this  match,  at  certain  intervals,  pieces  of  coloured 
paper  and  silk  were  secured  with  thread,  and  on  them  the 
information  as  to  our  position  and  intended  lines  of  search 
were  printed.  The  balloon,  when  liberated,  sailed  rapidly 
along,  rising  withal,  and,  as  the  match  burnt,  the  papers 
were  gradually  detached,  and,  falling,  spread  themselves  on 
the  snow,  where  their  glaring  colours  would  soon  attract 
notice,  should  they  happily  fall  near  the  poor  fellows  in  the 
"  Erebus"  and  "  Terror." 

Every  care  was  taken  to  despatch  these  balloons  with 
winds  from  the  southward  and  south-east,  so  that  the  papers 
might  be  distributed  to  the  north  and  north-west,  and  west 
ward.  Fire-balloons,  of  which  there  were  a  few,  were  likewise 
despatched ;  but  the  impression  in  my  own  mind  is,  that  the 
majority  of  the  balloons  despatched  by  us,  after  rising  to  some 
height,  were  carried  by  counter-currents — always  the  most 
prevalent  ones  at  the  cold  season  of  the  year — to  the  south 
ward  and  south-west.  On  two  occasions  I  distinctly  saw  the 
balloons,  when  started  with  S.  E.  winds,  pass  for  a  while  to 
the  N.  W.,  and  then,  at  a  great  altitude,  alter  their  course 
under  the  influence  of  a  contrary  current,  and  pass  as  rapidly 
to  the  S.  E.,  in  the  teeth  of  the  light  airs  we  had  on  the  floe. 

The  farthest  distance  from  the  point  of  departure  at  which 
any  of  these  papers  were  found,  as  far  as  I  know,  appears  to 
have  been  within  fifty  miles.  The  "  Assistance"  despatched 


136  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

some  from  near  Barlow  Inlet,  which  were  picked  up  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Wellington  Channel  north  of  Port  Innis. 
Neither  this,  however,  nor  our  non-discovery  of  any  papers 
during  our  travelling  in  1851,  can  be  adduced  as  a  proof 
against  their  possible  utility  and  success;  and  the  balloons 
may  still  be  considered  a  most  useful  auxiliary. 

Next — indeed  we  should  say  before  the  balloons — as  a 
means  of  communication,  came  carrier-pigeons.  When  first 
proposed,  in  1850,  many  laughed  at  the  idea  of  a  bird  doing 
any  service  in  such  a  cause  ;  and,  maybe,  might  have  laughed 
yet,  had  not  a  carrier-pigeon,  despatched  by  Capt.  Sir  John 
Ross,  from  his  winter  quarters  in  1850,  actually  reached  its 
home,  near  Ayr,  in  Scotland,  in  five  days.  In  our  expedi 
tion  none  of  these  birds  had  been  taken  ;  but  on  board  the 
"  Felix"  Sir  John  Ross  had  a  couple  of  brace.  I  plead  guilty, 
myself,  to  having  joined  in  the  laugh  at  the  poor  creatures, 
when,  with  feathers  in  a  half-moulted  state,  I  heard  it  pro 
posed  to  despatch  them  from  Beechey  Island,  in  74  degrees 
N.  and  92  degrees  W.,  to  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  and 
56  degrees  N.  latitude,  even  though  they  were  slung  to  a 
balloon  for  a  part  of  the  journey.  At  any  rate  it  was  done, 
I  think,  on  the  6th  October,  1850,  from  Assistance  Harbour. 
Two  birds,  duly  freighted  with  intelligence,  and  notes  from 
the  married  men,  were  put  in  a  basket,  which  was  attached 
to  a  balloon  in  such  a  manner,  that,  after  combustion  of  a 
certain  quantity  of  match,  the  carrier-pigeons  would  be 
launched  into  the  air  to  commence  their  flight.  The  idea 
being  that  they  would  fetch  some  of  the  whaling  vessels 
about  the  mouth  of  Hudson's  Straits ;  at  least  so  I  heard. 
The  wind  was  then  blowing  fresh  from  the  north-west,  and 
the  temperature  below  zero. 

When  we  in  the  squadron  off  Griffith's  Island  heard  of  the 
departure  of  the  mail,  the  opinion  prevalent  was,  the  birds 


OARRIER-PIGEONS.— KITES.  137 

would  be  frozen  to  death.  We  were  mistaken  ;  for,  in  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  hours,  one  of  these  birds,  as  verified 
by  the  lady  to  whom  it  had  originally  belonged,  reached  her 
house,  and  flew  to  the  nest  in  which  it  had  been  hatched  in 
the  pigeon-house.  It  had,  however,  by  some  means  or  other, 
shaken  itself  clear  of  the  packet  entrusted  to  its  charge. 
This  marvellous  flight  of  three  thousand  miles  is  the  longest 
on  record  ;  but,  of  course,  we  are  unable  to  say  for  what 
portion  of  the  distance  the  bird  was  carried  by  the  balloon, 
and  when  or  where  liberated ;  that  depending  upon  the 
strength  and  direction  of  the  gale  in  which  the  balloon  was 
carried  along. 

Kites,  which  the  kind  Mr.  Benjamin  Smith  had  supplied 
me  with,  both  as  a  tractile  power  to  assist  us  in  dragging 
sledges,  as  well  as  a  means  of  signalizing  between  parties, 
afforded  much  interest,  and  the  success  of  our  experiments 
in  applying  them  to  dragging  weights  was  so  great,  that  all 
those  I  was  able  to  supply  gladly  provided  themselves  with 
so  useful  an  auxiliary  to  foot-travellers.  Experience,  how 
ever,  taught  us  how  impossible  it  was  to  command  a  fair 
wind,  without  which  they  were  useless  weight,  and  in  severe 
weather  there  was  some  danger,  when  handling  or  coiling  up 
the  lines,  of  having  to  expose  the  hands  and  being  frost 
bitten. 

My  attempts  failed  to  despatch  the  kites  with  a  weight 
attached  sufficient  to  keep  a  strain  on  the  string,  and  so  keep 
the  kite  aloft,  whilst  at  the  same  time  it  was  enabled  to 
proceed  through  the  air  in  any  direction  I  chose ;  for,  as  may 
be  conceived,  a  little  too  much  weight  made  the  kite  a  fix 
ture,  whilst  a  little  too  little,  or  a  sudden  flaw  of  wind,  would 
topple  the  kite  over  and  bring  it  to  the  earth.  As  a  means 
of  signalizing  between  ships  when  stationary,  the  flying  of 
kites  of  different  colours,  sizes,  or  numbers,  attached  one  to 


138  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

the  other,  would,  I  am  sure,  in  the  clear  atmosphere  of  the 
Arctic  regions,  be  found  wonderfully  efficacious. 

Lastly,  we  carried  out,  more  I  believe  from  amusement 
than  from  any  idea  of  being  useful,  a  plan  which  had  sug 
gested  itself  to  the  people  of  Sir  James  Ross's  expedition 
when  wintering  in  Leopold  Harbour  in  1848-49,  that  of  en 
closing  information  in  a  collar,  secured  to  the  necks  of  the 
Arctic  foxes,  caught  in  traps,  and  then  liberated.  Several 
animals  thus  entrusted  with  despatches  or  records  were 
liberated  by  different  ships ;  but,  as  the  truth  must  be  told, 
I  fear  in  many  cases  the  next  night  saw  the  poor  "  postman," 
as  Jack  facetiously  termed  him,  in  another  trap,  out  of  which 
he  would  be  taken,  killed,  the  skin  taken  off,  and  packed 
away,  to  ornament,  at  some  future  day,  the  neck  of  some 
fair  Dulcinea.  As  a  "  sub,"  I  was  admitted  into  this  secret 
mystery,  or  otherwise,  I  with  others  might  have  accounted 
for  the  disappearance  of  the  collared  foxes  by  believing  them 
busy  on  their  honourable  mission.  In  order  that  the  crime 
of  killing  the  "postmen"  may  be  recognized  in  its  true  light, 
it  is  but  fair  that  I  should  say,  that  the  brutes,  having  par 
taken  once  of  the  good  cheer  on  board  or  around  the  ships, 
seldom  seemed  satisfied  with  the  mere  empty  honours  of  a 
copper  collar,  and  returned  to  be  caught  over  and  over  again. 
Strict  laws  were  laid  down  for  their  safety,  such  as  an  edict 
that  no  fox  taken  alive  in  a  trap  was  to  be  killed  :  of  course 
no  fox  was  after  this  taken  alive ;  they  were  all  unaccount 
ably  dead,  unless  it  was  some  fortunate  wight  whose  brush 
and  coat  were  worthless  :  in  such  case  he  lived  either  to  drag 
about  a  quantity  of  information -in  a  copper  collar  for  the 
rest  of  his  days,  or  else  to  die  a  slow  death,  as  being  intended 
for  Lord  Derby's  menagerie. 

The  departure  of  a  postman  was  a  scene  of  no  small  mer 
riment  :  all  hands,  from  the  captain  to  the  cook,  were  out  to 


DESULTORY  OCCUPATIONS.  139 

chase  the  fox,  \vho,  half  frightened  out  of  its  wits,  seemed  to 
doubt  which  way  to  run  ;  whilst  loud  shouts  and  roars  of 
laughter,  breaking  the  cold,  frosty  air,  were  heard  from  ship 
to  ship,  as  the  fox-hunters  swelled  in  numbers  from  all  sides, 
and  those  that  could  not  run  mounted  some  neighbouring 
hummock  of  ice,  and  gave  a  view  halloo,  which  said  far  more 
for  robust  health  than  for  tuneful  melody. 

During  the  darker  period  of  the  winter,  and  when  the 
uncertainty  of  the  weather  was  such  that,  from  a  perfect  calm 
and  clear  weather,  a  few  hours  would  change  the  scene  to  a 
howling  tempest  and  thick  drift,  in  which,  if  one  had  been 
caught,  death  must  inevitably  have  followed,  great  care  was 
necessary  in  taking  our  walks,  to  prevent  being  so  overtaken  ; 
but,  nevertheless,  walks  of  seven  or  eight  miles  from  the 
vessels  were,  on  several  occasions,  performed,  and  a  severe 
temperature  faced  and  mastered  with  perfect  indifference.  I 
remember  well  on  the  loth  January  seeing  mercury,  in  a 
solid  mass,  with  a  temperature  of  40°  below  zero,  and  being 
one  of  a  good  many  who  had  taken  three  hours  hard  walking 
for  mere  pleasure. 

We  joked  not  a  little  at  the  fireside  stories  at  home,  of 
bitter  cold  nights,  and  being  frozen  to  death  on  some  English 
heath  :  it  seemed  to  us  so  incredible  that  people  should  be 
frost-bitten,  because  the  air  was  below  freezing  point ;  whilst 
we  should  have  hailed  with  delight  the  thermometer  standing 
at  zero,  and  indeed  looked  forward  to  such  a  state  of  our 
climate,  as  people  in  the  temperate  zone  would  to  May 
sunshine  and  flowers. 

With  the  increasing  twilight,  many  an  anxious  eye  was 
cast  from  the  top  of  Griffith's  Island,  to  see  the  prospect  of 
good  foot-travelling  offered  by  the  floe:  it  cannot  have  been 
said  to  be  cheering,  for  broken  and  hummocky  ice  met  the 
eye  whichever  way  one  looked,  with  here  and  there  a  small 


140  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

smooth  space  ;  and  if  it  looked  so  from  the  heights,  we  knew 
full  well  that  when  actually  amongst  those  hummocks,  the 
travelling  would  be  arduous  indeed.  There  was  some  time 
yet,  however,  to  elapse  before  the  tussle  commenced  ;  and 
many  a  snow-storm  had  time  meanwhile  to  rage.  With 
seamen's  sanguineness,  we  trusted  that  they  would  fill  up 
the  hollows,  and  help  to  smooth  over  the  broken  pack ;  any 
way,  we  all  knew  "  a  long  pull,  a  strong  pull,  and  a  pull  alto 
gether,"  would  master  more  difficulties  than  as  yet  had 
shown  themselves  in  the  Arctic  regions. 

Such  were  our  occupations,  such  the  amusements,  such 
the  hopes  and  fears  of  our  winter  quarters  off  Griffith's 
Island  ;  and  looking  back  now  at  that  period,  we  happily 
forget  its  dreariness,  and  recollect  only  its  brighter  moments 
— the  fast  friendship  there  formed  for  many,  the  respect  and 
admiration  for  all. 

February  7th,  1851. — The  stentorian  lungs  of  the  "  Reso- 
lute's"  boatswain  hailed,  to  say  the  sun  was  in  sight  from  the 
mast-head ;  and  in  all  the  vessels  the  rigging  was  soon 
manned  to  get  the  first  glimpse  of  the  returning  god  of 
day.  Slowly  it  rose,  and  loud  and  hearty  cheers  greeted 
the  return  of  an  orb  whom  the  world,  without  the  frozen 
zone,  does  not  half  appreciate,  because  he  is  always  with 
them.  For  ninety-six  days  it  had  not  gladdened  us,  and 
now  its  return  put  fresh  life  into  our  night-wearied  bodies. 
For  a  whole  hour  we  feasted  ourselves  with  admiring  the 
sphere  of  fire,  which  illumined  without  warming  us ;  and, 
indeed,  the  cold  now  increased  rather  than  otherwise,  and 
our  lowest  temperature  and  severest  weather  did  not  occur 
until  March. 

Preparations  for  spring  travelling  were  now  hastened  ; 
daily  committees  of  officers  met,  by  order,  to  discuss  every 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  TRAVELLING.  141 

point,  and  receive,  approve,  or  reject  proposals  and  plans. 
Every  soul,  high  and  low,  exerted  his  ingenuity  and  abilities 
to  invent  articles,  portable  and  useful  for  travellers  ;  whilst 
others  sent  in  to  the  leader  of  the  expedition  schemes  of 
search,  in  which  distances,  directions,  weights,  and  material 
were  duly  considered.  Hopes  rose  high,  as  every  one  felt 
that  the  field  was  thrown  open  to  individual  ability  and  skill. 
Every  one,  naturally,  (for  orders  "  to  put  the  men  in  train 
ing"  did  not  come  out  until  afterwards,)  commenced  to 
"  harden  up"  for  the  labour  before  them.  Zealous  individ 
uals  might  be  daily  seen  trying  all  sorts  of  patents.  Out 
of  their  hard-earned  wages  some  of  the  men  bought  and 
made  sails  of  peculiar  cut  for  their  sledges  ;  others,  after  the 
"  working  hours"  were  over,  constructed  water-bottles,  velo 
cipedes,  cooking-tins  ;  in  fact,  neither  pains  nor  trouble  were 
spared — officers  and  men  vying  in  zeal. 

Early  in  March  an  interchange  of  visits  between  our 
squadron  and  that  under  Captain  Penny  opened  the  commu 
nication.  His  vessels  had  got  through  the  winter  equally 
well  with  ourselves,  and  he,  in  like  manner,  was  hard  at 
work,  preparing  for  the  foot  journeys;  and,  as  no  sledges  or 
other  equipment  had  been  brought  by  him  from  England,  in 
consequence  of  his  hurried  departure,  every  nerve  had  to  be 
strained,  and  every  resource  called  into  existence,  to  enable 
him  to  overcome  his  difficulties  in  lack  of  material. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  at  11  A.  M.,  the  temperature  in  the 
shade  having  been  a  couple  of  hours  previously  at  41°  below 
zero,  and  mercury  solid  in  the  open  air,  we  were  delighted 
to  see  a  solitary  drop  of  water  trickle  down  the  black  paint 
of  the  "  Pioneer's"  side :  at  that  moment,  oddly  enough,  the 
temperature  in  the  shade  was  36° — ,  and  in  the  sun  the 
thermometer  only  rose  to  2°  below  zero  !  Water,  however, 
it  undoubtedly  was,  and  as  such  we  cheerfully  hailed  it,  to 


142  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

prove  the  increasing  heat  of  the  sun,  and  to  promise  a  coming 
summer.  All  March  was  a  scene  of  constant  business,  diver 
sified  with  sledge  parades  and  amusing  military  evolutions, 
recalling  to  our  minds  unpleasant  recollections  of  sweltering 
field-days  and  grand  parades. 

Having  briefly  touched  upon  the  leading  incidents  con 
nected  with  our  winter,  and  brought  events  up  to  the  pre 
parations  for  a  search  on  foot,  it  may  not  here  be  out  of 
place  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  causes  which  had  brought 
about  the  necessity  for  so  many  Englishmen  to  be  sojourning 
in  these  inclement  regions,  as  well  as  occasioned  the  voyage 
of  that  distinguished  navigator  whose  squadron  we  hoped  to 
rescue. 

The  seamen  of  Northern  Europe,  the  Norsemen  and 
Scandinavians,  seem,  from  the  earliest  records  extant,  to 
have  sought  for  the  glory  attendant  upon  braving  the  perils 
of  Polar  Seas.  From  A.  D.  860  to  982.  from  the  sea-rover 
Naddod's  discovery  of  Iceland,  to  Eirek  "  of  the  Red  Hand's" 
landing  on  Greenland,  near  Hergolf 's  Ness,  neither  wreck, 
disaster,  nor  tempest,  checked  the  steady,  onward  march  of 
their  explorations;  robbing,  as  they  eventually  did  a  century 
afterwards,  the  immortal  Genoese  of  one  half  his  honours, 
by  actually  landing,  under  the  pirate  Biarni,  on  the  new 
continent  south  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

In  Greenland,  a  hardy  race,  the  descendants  of  the  North 
land  warriors,  appear  to  have  multiplied;  for,  in  A.  D.  1400, 
a  flourishing  colony  stood  on  this  threshold  of  the  new  world  ; 
converted  to  Christianity,  the  cathedral  of  Garda  had  been 
constructed,  and  the  archives  in  Iceland  proved  it  to  have 
been  successively  held  by  no  less  than  seventeen  bishops  ; 
the  colonies  were  known  under  the  general  terms  of  East  and 
West  Bygd  (Bight),  and  numbered  in  all  sixteen  parishes, 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty  farms,  numerously  populated. 


NORTH-  WEST  DISCO  VER  Y.  1 43 

Strict  commercial  monopoly,  and  the  naturally  secluded 
position  of  the  Scandinavian  colony  in  Greenland,  seemed 
to  have  occasioned  its  perfect  decadence,  or,  otherwise,  as 
traditions  tell  us,  a  sudden  hostile  inroad  of  the  Esquimaux 
swept  off  the  isolated  Europeans  :  from  either  cause  there 
remained,  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries,  but  the  moss- 
covered  ruins  of  a  few  churches,  some  Runic  inscriptions, 
and  the  legends  of  the  Esquimaux,  who  talked  of  a  tall,  fair- 
haired  race,  their  giants  of  old. 

The  heirloom  of  the  northern  pirates,  the  dominion  of  the 
sea,  passed,  however,  into  England's  hands,  and  with  it  that 
same  daring  love  of  the  difficult  and  unknown,  which  had  led 
the  Viking  from  conquest  to  conquest :  and  whilst  southern 
Europe  sought  for  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  in  the  more  genial 
regions  of  the  south,  English  seamen  pushed  their  barks  to 
the  west,  in  the  boisterous  seas  of  high  northern  latitudes. 
Confining  myself  purely  to  those  who  essayed  the  passage 
to  Cathay  Cipango,  and  the  Indies,  by  the  north-west,  first 
on  the  glorious  scroll  stands  Frobisher.  That  sturdy  seaman 
of  Elizabeth's  gallant  navy,  on  the  llth  of  July,  1576,  with 
three  craft,  whose  united  burden  only  amounted  to  seventy- 
five  tons, — this  "  proud  admiral"  sighted  the  east  coast  of 
Greenland,  in  61°  north  latitude.  Unable  to  approach  it  for 
ice,  which  then,  as  now,  hampers  the  whole  of  that  coast,  he 
was  next  blown  by  a  gale  far  to  the  south-west  on  to  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  reaching  eventually  to  63°  north  latitude, 
and  landing  in  Frobisher's  Straits.  He  extricated  his  vessels 
with  difficulty,  and  returned  home,  carrying  a  quantity  of 
mica,  which  was  mistaken  for  gold ;  and  awakening  the 
cupidity  of  the  court,  nobles,  and  merchants,  three  more 
expeditions  sailed,  exhibiting  laudable  courage  and  skill,  but 
adding  little  to  our  geographical  knowledge. 

Such  a  succession  of  miscarriages  damped  the  ardour  for 


144  ARCT1G  JOURNAL. 

north-west  discovery  for  a  while;  until,  in  1535,  "divers 
worshipful  merchants  of  London,  and  the  West  country, 
moved  by  the  desire  of  advancing  God's  glory,  and  the  good 
of  their  native  land,"  equipped  "  John  Davis"  for  a  voyage 
of  discovery  to  the  unknown  regions  of  the  north-west. 

Piteous  as  were  his  hardships — doleful  as  were  his  tales 
of  the  "  lothsome  view  of  ye  shore,  and  ye  irksome  noyse  of 
y*  yce,"  "  ye  stinking  fogs  and  cruelle  windes"  of  Desolation 
Land — the  seamen  of  that  day  seemed  each  to  have  deter 
mined  to  see  and  judge  for  himself,  and  ably  were  they  sup 
ported  by  the  open-handed  liberality  of  wealthy  private 
individuals,  and  the  corporation  of  London  merchants  ; 
whose  minds,  if  we  may  judge  of  them  by  such  men  as  Sir 
John  Wolstanholme,  Digges,  Jones,  and  others,  soared  far 
above  Smithfield  nuisances  and  committees  on  sewers.  Af 
ter  Davis  we  see  Waymouth,  then  Hudson,  who  perished 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  hardships  and  honours.  Captains 
Button  and  Bylot,  followed  by  the  ablest,  the  first  of  Arctic 
navigators — Baffin, — he  sweeping,  in  one  short  season,  round 
the  great  bay  which  records  his  fame,  showed  us  of  the  present 
day  the  high-road  to  the  west ;  and  did  more ;  for  he  saw 
more  of  that  coast  than  we  modern  seamen  have  yet  been 
able  to  accomplish.  Lastly,  in  that  olden  time,  we  have  the 
sagacious  and  quaint  Nor-West  Fox,  carrying  our  flag  to  the 
head  of  Hudson's  Bay  ;  whilst  James's  fearful  sufferings  in 
the  southern  extreme  of  the  same  locality,  completed,  for  a 
while,  the  labours  of  British  seamen  in  these  regions. 

A  lull  then  took  place,  perhaps  occasioned  by  the  granting 
of  a  charter  to  certain  noblemen  and  merchants  in  1G68,  un 
der  the  title  of  ';  Governor  and  Company  of  Adventurers  of 
England,"  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  discovery  of  a  north-west  passage  was  to  be  perse 
vered  in  by  them.  During  a  century,  they  accomplished,  by 


ENGLISH  N.    \V.  DISCOVERIES.  145 

their  servants,  "  Hearne  and  Mackenzie," — the  former  in  1771, 
and  the  latter  in  1789, — the  tracing  of  the  Copper-mine  and 
the  Mackenzie  rivers  to  their  embouchures  into  an  arctic  sea 
in  the  70°  parallel  of  north  latitude  ;  whilst  a  temporary 
interest,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  during  the  reign  of 
George  the  Third,  occasioned  two  names,  dear  to  every  sea 
man's  recollection,  to  be  associated  with  the  accomplishment 
of  geographical  discovery  in  the  same  direction  :  the  one  was 
Nelson,  who  served  with  Captain  Phipps,  afterwards  Lord 
Mulgrave,  in  his  attempt  to  pass  over  the  Pole ;  and  the 
other,  the  greatest  of  English  navigators — Cook,  who,  in 
177G,  failed  to  round  the  American  continent  by  corning  to 
the  eastward  from  Behring's  Straits. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  current  century,  our  knowl 
edge  of  the  northern  coast  of  the  American  continent 
amounted  to  a  mere  fraction.  On  the  west,  Cook  had  hardly 
penetrated  beyond  Behring's  Straits ;  and  on  the  east,  Hud 
son's  and  Baffin's  Bay  formed  the  limit  of  our  geographical 
knowledge  ;  except  at  two  points,  where  the  sea  had  been 
seen  by  Hearne  and  Mackenzie. 

Shortly  after  the  Peace,  one  whose  genius  and  ability 
were  only  to  be  equalled  by  his  perseverance,  the  late  Sir 
John  Barrow,  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  turned  his  atten 
tion  to  Arctic  discovery, and  especially  the  north-west  passage. 
He  had  himself  been  to  Spitzbergen,  and  as  far  north  as  the 
80th  parallel  of  latitude.  Combating  the  prejudiced,  con 
vincing  the  doubtful,  and  teaching  the  ignorant,  he  awakened 
national  pride  and  professional  enterprise  in  a  cause  in  which 
English  seamen  had  already  won  high  honours,  and  Great 
Britain's  glory  was  especially  involved.  What  difficulties 
he  mastered,  and  how  well  he  was  seconded  by  others,  and 
none  more  so  than  by  the  enlightened  First  Lord  of  the  Ad 
miralty,  Viscount  Melville,  Sir  John  Barrow  himself  has 

7 


146  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

told,  in  the  able  volumes  which  imperishably  chronicle  the 
deeds  of  ancient  and  modern  explorers  in  Polar  regions. 
Since  1818,  with  the  exception  of  Sir  John  Ross's  first  voyage, 
we  may  have  been  said  to  have  constantly  added  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  north-west. 

It  was  in  1819  that  Parry  sailed  to  commence  that  mag 
nificent  series  of  discoveries  which,  since  completed  by 
Franklin,  "Richardson,  Beechey,  the  Rosses,  Back,  Simpson, 
and  Rae,  have  left  us,  after  thirty-five  years  of  well-spent 
toil  and  devotion,  in  perfect  possession  of  the  geographical 
features  of  Arctic  America,  and  added  three  thousand  six  hun 
dred  and  eighty  miles  of  coast-line  to  our  Polar  charts.  Is 
this  nothing1?  If  the  mere  quid  pro  quo  is  required  of  public 
servants,  surely  the  Arctic  navigator  has  far  better  repaid  to 
his  country  the  pay  and  food  he  has  received  at  her  hands 
than  those  who.  in  a  time  of  universal  peace,  idle  through 
year  after  year  of  foreign  service  in  her  men-of-war ;  and 
most  assuredly,  if  we  are  proud  of  our  seamen's  fame  and 
our  naval  renown,  where  can  we  look  for  nobler  instances  of 
it  than  amongst  the  records  of  late  Arctic  voyages  and  jour 
neys.  The  calm,  heroic  sufferings  of  Franklin, — always  suc 
cessful,  let  the  price  be  what  it  would  ;  the  iron  resolution  of 
Richardson  ;  Back's  fearful  winter  march  to  save  his  com 
rades  ;  the  devoted  Hepburn,  who,  old  though  he  be,  could 
not  see  his  former  leader  perish  without  trying  to  help  him, 
and,  whilst  I  write  these  lines,  is  again  braving  an  Arctic 
winter  in  the  little  "Prince  Albert ;"  Parry,  who  knew  so 
well  to  lead  and  yet  be  loved ;  James  Ross,  of  iron  frame, 
establishing,  by  four  consecutive  years  of  privation  and  in 
domitable  energy,  that  high  character  which  enabled  him  to 
carry  an  English  squadron  to  the  un visited  shores  of  Victoria 
f,and  at  the  southern  pole;  and  lastly,  the  chivalrous  men, 
who.  aaain  under  Franklin,  have  launched,  in  obedience  to 


NORTH-WEST  DISCOVERY.  147 

their  Queen  and  country,  into  the  unknown  regions  between 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  to  execute  their  mission  or 
fall  in  the  attempt. 

It  was  to  save  these  devoted  servants,  that  the  spring 
of  1851  saw  full  500  British  and  American  seamen  within 
the  frigid  zone.  That  portion  of  them  that  had  come  by 
Baffin's  Bay  had  been  so  far  successful  in  their  mission,  that 
they  had  dispelled  all  the  visions — gratuitous  enough — of 
Franklin  having  perished  by  shipwreck  or  other  disaster  in 
his  passage  across  the  bay. 

We  had  seen  his  winter  quarters ;  we  had  seen  his  look 
out  posts,  and  the  trail  of  his  explorations.  They  all  said. 
Onward!  To  be  sure,  we  did  not  at  once  know  by  which 
route  he  had  gone  onward.  The  uncertainty,  however,  gave 
a  spur  to  those  about  to  be  engaged  in  the  searching  parties, 
and  each  man  thought  there  were  especial  reasons  for  believ 
ing  one  particular  route  to  be  the  true  one.  The  majority — 
indeed  all  those  who  gave  the  subject  any  consideration — be 
lieved  Franklin  to  have  gone  either  by  Cape  Walker,  or  to 
the  north-west  by  Wellington  Channel. 

Hope,  thank  God,  rode  high  in  every  breast,  and  already 
did  the  men  begin  to  talk  of  what  they  would  do  with  their 
new  shipmates  from  the  "Erebus"  and  "Terror"  when  they 
had  them  on  board  their  respective  ships  :  and  I  have  no  doubt 
they  would  have  done  as  one  gallant  fellow  replied,  when  I 
asked  him  if  he  thought  himself  equal  to  dragging  200  Ibs., 
"O  yes,  sir,  and  Sir  John  Franklin  too,  when  we  find  him." 

Increasing  light,  decreasing  cold,  plenty  to  do,  and  certain 
anticipations  upon  each  man's  part,  that  he  would  be  the  for 
tunate  one  to  find  and  save  Franklin,  made  the  month  of 
April  come  in  on  us  before  we  had  time  to  think  of  it,  but 
not  before  we  were  ready.  ,  » 

The  original  intention  was  for  the  sledges  to  have  started 


148  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

on  the  different  routes  laid  down  by  our  commodore  on  the 
8th  of  April ;  but  a  fall  of  temperature  on  the  6th  altered 
this  plan,  and  a  delay  of  one  week  was  decided  upon.  I 
therefore  availed  myself  of  the  occasion  to  visit  Captain 
Penny's  winter  quarters ;  proceeding  there  on  the  dog-sledge 
of  Mr.  Petersen,  who  happened  to  be  on  board  our  vessel  at 
the  time. 

Nothing,  I  conceive,  can  be  more  exhilarating  than  dog^ 
sledging  in  the  Arctic  regions  on  a  fine  day,  especially 
when,  as  in  my  case,  the  whole  affair  has  the  charm  of  novel 
ty.  The  rattling  pace  of  the  dogs,  their  intelligence  in  choos 
ing  the  road  through  the  broken  ice ;  the  strict  obedience 
paid  by  the  team  to  one  powerful  dog  whom  they  elect  as 
leader  ;  the  arbitrary  exercise  of  authority  by  the  said  leader ; 
the  constant  use  of  the  whip,  and  a  sort  of  running  conversa 
tion  kept  up  by  the  driver  with  the  different  dogs,  who  well 
knew  their  names,  as  in  turn  Sampson  !  Caniche !  Foxey ! 
Terror !  &c.,  &c.,  were  duly  anathematized,  afforded  constant 
amusement ;  apart  from  Petersen's  conversation,  which  was 
replete  with  interest,  and  the  information  he  gave  me  of  the 
distances  accomplished  on  the  coast  of  Greenland  by  the 
Danes  with  dog-sledges,  made  me  regret  much  we  had  not 
provided  ourselves  with  a  team  or  two  for  accomplishing 
any  necessarily  rapid  journey. 

When  Mr.  Petersen,  at  Uppernavik,  had  so  nobly  thrown 
up  an  appointment  under  the  Danish  crown  to  serve  as  inter 
preter  with  Penny  in  the  search  for  Franklin,  he  brought  with 
him  a  sledge  and  a  few  dogs  :  these  had  twice  littered,  and 
the  numerous  puppies  were  already  grown  into  serviceable 
dogs,  forming  two  efficient  teams.  The  major  part  of  the 
winter,  scarcity  of  food,  such  as  seal  and  bear,  had  told 
severely  upon  the  poor  creatures  ;  but  an  Esquimaux  clog 
lives  on  little  when  not  worked  ;  and.  with  a  little  oatmeal 


ADVANTAGE  OF  WINTERING  IN  HARBOUR.        140 

and  grease,  they  had  all  outlived  the  severe  season ;  and 
some  bear's  flesh  having  been  luckily  procured,  there  was 
every  probability  of  good  service  being  rendered  by  them. 
Our  rate  of  travelling  was  over  five  miles  per  hour,  and 
though  making  a  considerable  detour  to  avoid  broken  ice,  I 
was  shaking  Penny  by  the  hand  four  hours  after  leaving  the 
"  Pioneer  :"  the  distance  between  the  squadrons  being  about 
twenty  miles  in  a  straight  line. 

I  wras  much  struck  with  the  great  advantage  of  wintering 
in  harbour,  and  near  the  shore,  over  a  position,  such  as  our 
squadron's,  in  the  midst  of  the  floe.  There  was  a  cheerfulness 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  land,  barren  though  it  was,  quite  refresh 
ing  to  one  who  had  always  a  mile  to  walk  during  the  winter 
to  reach  Griffith's  Island,  or  remain  satisfied  with  the  mo 
notony  of  the  ice-field  around  the  "  Pioneer."  Besides  being 
snug  in  harbour,  Captain  Penny,  satisfied  of  the  security  of 
his  vessels,  intended  to  leave  only  one  man  in  each  of  them, 
— every  other  soul  being  told  off  for  sledge-parties, — whereas 
our  squadron  would  have  some  sixty  men  and  officers  left 
behind  to  take  care  of  them,  exposed  as  they  were  to  be 
swept  into  Barrow's  Strait,  or  farther,  by  any  sudden  disrup 
tion  of  the  ice.  I,  therefore,  mentally  gave  rny  adhesion  to 
the  opinion  expressed  by  authorities  at  home,  to  secure 
winter  quarters  in  some  bay  or  harbour,  and  not  to  winter 
in  the  pack,  unless  it  is  unavoidable. 

The  oldest  English  officer  who  had  ever  wintered  within 
the  Arctic  circle  on  a  voyage  of  discovery,  Sir  John  Ross, 
was  not  likely  to  be  forgotten  by  me;  and  I  sincerely 
congratulated  the  veteran  on  his  escape  from  sickness 
during  the  past  winter  :  and,  though  a  wonderful  in 
stance  of  physical  endurance,  I,  with  others,  could  not 
but  feel  regret  that  a  Naval  officer  so  advanced  in  years, 
and  who  had  served  so  long,  should  be  necessitated  to 


150  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

undergo  privations,  of  which  those  who  did  not  witness 
them  can  form  no  conception. 

Time  enabled  me  to  do  little  more  than  admire  the  per 
severance  displayed  by  Capt.  Penny,  his  officers  and  men,  in 
their  preparations  for  travelling.  Sledges,  cooking  appara 
tuses,  tents,  in  short,  every  thing  was  ready,  having  been 
made  by  themselves  in  the  course  of  the  winter  ;  and,  on  the 
13th  April,  six  sledges,  drawn  by  seamen,  with  an  officer  to 
each,  and  provisioned  for  forty  days,  would  start  for  Wel 
lington  Channel,  there  to  part  into  two  divisions. — Capt. 
Stewart,  of  the  "  Sophia,"  taking  the  one  side  of  the 
Channel,  whilst  Capt.  Penny,  with  two  extra  dog-sledges, 
would  direct  the  search  in  general.  Delighted  with  all  the 
arrangements,  and  equally  so  with  the  high  spirit  of  chival 
rous  devotion  apparent  in  every  word  and  action  of  these  our 
gallant  coadjutors  in  the  purest  of  enterprises,  my  heart  was 
full  as  I  said  "  Good-bye"  to  my  hospitable  friend  Penny, 
on  the  llth  of  April;  and  a  rapid  drive  by  Mr.  Petersen 
carried  me  to  the  "  Pioneer"  in  less  than  three  hours.  After 
a  short  halt,  Mr.  P.  returned  to  Assistance  Harbour,  doing 
full  forty  miles,  within  twelve  hours,  on  his  dog-sledge. 

I  was  astonished  to  find,  on  my  return,  that  as  yet  the 
temperature  at  our  winter  quarters  had  not  been  registered 
as  being  above  zero  ;  whereas,  in  Assistance  Harbour,  Capt. 
Penny's  quarters,  the  thermometer  had  occasionally  for  the 
past  week  ranged  above  it,  and  on  the  day  before  I  left 
showed  11°  in  the  shade.  This  difference  of  temperature 
was,  doubtless,  occasioned  by  the  radiation  of  heat  from  the 
land,  by  which  they  were,  unlike  ourselves,  surrounded. 

During  my  absence,  I  was  told  that  Mr.  M'Dougal,  of  the 
*'  Resolute,"  who  had  been  despatched  as  early  as  the  4th 
April  to  inspect  the  depots  formed  in  the  autumn,  had 
returned  to  the  ships,  and  brought  accounts  of  a  whole- 


SLEDGE  EQUIPMENT.  151 

sale  destruction  of  the  one  on  Somerville  Island,  by  bears. 
Hunger  and  mischievousness  seemed  alike  to  have  induced 
the  brutes  to  break  and  tear  to  pieces  what  they  could  not 
possibly  eat — such  as  tins  of  patent  chocolate,  some  of  which 
were  fairly  bitten  through.  This  information  induced  us  all 
to  take  extra  precautions  in  securing  the  provisions,  of  which 
depots  during  the  march  were  to  be  formed. 

It  is  now  time  to  describe  the  sledges  and  their  equip 
ment,  upon  the  completeness  of  which  the  lives  of  our  trav 
ellers  so  entirely  depended. 

The  sledges,  constructed  of  tough  and  well-seasoned  wood, 
had  been  carefully  constructed  in  Woolwich  Dockyard. 
They  were  shod  with  iron,  and  the  cross-bars  or  battens 
which  connected  the  two  runners,  and  formed  the  floor  upon 
which  the  load  was  placed,  were  lashed  in  their  places  by  us 
when  required  for  use.  At  the  four  corners  of  the  sledges 
light  iron  stanchions  dropped  into  sockets,  and  formed  the 
support  for  the  sides  of  a  species  of  tray  or  boat,  capable  of 
serving  to  ferry  the  sledge  crew  across  water  in  an  emer 
gency,  as  well  as  to  keep  the  provisions  and  clothing  in  it 
dry.  This  boat  was  made  in  some  cases  of  gutta-percha,  in 
others  of  oiled  canvas  ; — 

to 

And,  together  with  the  sledge  and  drag-ropes,  \vhich  were 
made  of  horse-hair,  to  prevent  their  becoming  hard  and 
brittle  from  frost,  weighed  .         .         ,?       .     "%'"',     .     120 
Two  fur  blankets  and  spare  blanket,  two  weighed      .        .       40 
Nine  blanket-bags  for  sleeping  in  .         .         .        .       42 

A  tent  of  oblong  form,  made  of  a  species  of  brown  holland, 
supported  by  four  boarding-pikes,  and  a  line  which 
served  as  a  ridge-rope,  and  was  set  up  to  any  heavy 
thing  that  came  to  hand      ......       55 

Mackintosh  floor-cloth  to  spread  over  the  snow  or  gravel    .       12 
A  shovel  to  dig  out  snow  for  banking-up  with  &\ 


152  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

RM. 

A  cooking-  apparatus,  invented  by  Lieutenant  M'Clintock, 
capable  of  cooking-  a  pint  apiece  of  tea,  cocoa,  or  pem- 
inican,  with   a   spirit  lamp,  tallow  lamp,  and  spare 
kettle          .........       17 

Sextant,  1  gun,  and  gear    .......       10 

A  bag  containing  5  tin  pannikins  and  5  spoons  .         .         5 

A  knapsack  for  each  man,  containing  1  flannel  shirt,  1 
Guernsey  frock,  1  serge  frock,  1  pair  of  drawers,  flan 
nel,  1  pair  of  boot  hose,  1  pair  of  stockings,  2  pairs  of 
blanket-socks,  1  towrel,  1  comb,  1  Ib.  soap   ...       48 
Spare  boots,  and  thick  Guernsey  frocks  for  sleeping  in       .       36 
A  tin  case,  containing  pepper,  salt,  herbs  dried,   lucifer 
matches,  grog-measure,  calico  and  flannel  bandages, 
plaster  adhesive,  lint,  liniment,  eye-wash,  pills,  simple 
ointment,  glycerine,  lancet,  tincture  of  opium,  pins, 
needles,  and  thread     .......       16 

Store-bag,  containing  broom  or  brush  for  sweeping  the 
tent  down  with,  spare  boot-soles,  wax,  bristles,  twine, 
shoe-tacks,  crape  awls,  slow-match,  nettle  stuff,  and 
strips  of  hide,  cylinders  for  documents,  printed  records       1  1 
Spare  ammunition,  cleaning  rods,  and  wrench    ...       14 
Kites  and  string         ........       12 


Dead  Aveight,  Ibs.     440 

Such  were  the  weights  of  the  sledge  equipment  in  the  case 
of  one  of  those  intended  for  a  long  journey.  Nothing,  it  will 
be  seen,  was  forgotten,  and  there  was  nothing  superfluous; 
yet,  as  the  440  Ibs.  had  to  be  dragged  by  six  men,  there  was 
already  73  Ibs.  per  man,  which  would,  from  its  nature,  be 
hardly  any  lighter  at  the  end  of  the  journey  ;  and  as  about 
200  Ibs.  was  judged  to  be  as  much  as  a  man  could  drag, 
there  only  remained  172  Ibs.  per  man  available  for  provision 
and  package. 

The  daily  scale  of  provision,  as  ordered  by  Capt.  Austin, 
during  the  journeys,  was  to  be  as  follows:  — 


SCALE  OF  PROVISION.  153 

Pemmican 1  Ib. 

Boiled  pork  .         .      .  »,,,      ^_,  t   f,  ,     •,    >    •  6  oz. 

Biscuit 12  oz. 

Rum,  concentrated        .         .        .         .         .  £  gill. 

Tobacco i  oz. 

Biscuit  dust  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  1  oz. 

Tea  and  sugar        .         .         .         .         .         .  £  oz. 

Chocolate  and  sugar  (alternate  days)     .         .  If  oz. 

Lime-juice  (for  10  days)         .         .         .         .  •£  oz. 

The  fuel  allowed  to  cook  this,  for  a  party  of  seven  men, 
amounted  to  one  pint  and  one  gill  of  spirits  of  wine,  or  one 
pound  eight  ounces  of  tallow. 

A  little  calculation  soon  showed  that  about  forty  days' 
provision  was  as  much  as  any  one  sledge  could  take  with  it, 
or  for  an  outward  journey  of  about  twenty  days ;  which,  at 
an  average  distance  of  ten  miles  per  diem,  would  only  give 
an  extent  of  coast-line  examined  by  any  one  sledge  of  two 
hundred  miles. 

Before  I  endeavour  to  show  how,  by  a  system  of  depots 
and  relays,  greater  distances  were  achieved,  the  complete 
load  of  a  long-party  sledge  may  as  well  be  shown. 

Ib8. 

Total  dead  weight        ....  440 

Pemmican  and  cases     ....  330 

Biscuit  and  dust,  &c 278 

Pork  and  packages       .         .         .         .123 
Tea,  sugar,  chocolate,  tobacco,  &c.,  in  a 

case 47 

Lime-juice  and  rum      ....  67 

Spirits  of  wine  and  tallow    ...  78 

Sundries,  tins,  &c.        ....  45 


Number  of  men  to  drag,  7     .  1408 

201  Ibs.  per  man. 


154  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

The  officer's  load  consisted  of  a  gun,  powder  and  ball, 
telescope,  compass,  and  note-book ;  and  as  all  the  party,  in 
anticipation  of  cold  weather,  had  to  be  heavily  clad,  it  may 
be  supposed  that  the  total  weight  to  be  dragged  through 
snow  and  over  rough  ice  was  quite  as  much  as  the  stoutest 
physical  powers  were  capable  of.  Several  days  previous  to 
departure  we  had  travelled  short  journeys,  in  perfect  march 
ing  order,  and  sledges  ladened, — an  arrangement  which  was 
highly  beneficial;  and  from  the  way  the  sledges  went  over 
the  floe,  they  gave  us  high  hopes  of  answering  our  expecta 
tions  in  the  forthcoming  march. 

From  head-quarters  the  following  arrangement  of  sledges 
was  made  public : — 

Capt.  Erasmus  Ommanney  was  to  cross  Barrow's  Strait 
to  Cape  Walker,  with  the  following  sledges  and  officers  under 
his  orders :  he  there  was  to  use  his  own  judgment  as  to  the 
disposal  of  the  force,  it  being  required,  in  the  event  of  two 
routes  showing  themselves,  viz.,  one  to  the  S.  W.,  and  the 
other  W.,  that  Lieut.  Sherard  Osborn  was  to  be  ordered  to 
take  up  the  latter. 


CAPTAIN  OMMANNEY^S  COMMAND. 


165 


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P  . 


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156  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

To  the  highly  important  direction  northward  up  the  un 
known  channel  of  Byam  Martin  Island,  and  which,  as  Lieut. 
Aldrich  very  properly  thought,  would  intercept  the  course 
of  Franklin,  should  he,  from  Wellington  Channel,  have  sailed 
north  about  for  Behring's  Straits,  two  sledges  were  told  off 
under  that  officer  : — 


Long-party  )    _    .     _      ...       (    Faithful  and  )  Lieut.  R.  D.  Al- 
/*/      J   \  Lady  Franklin    -j  [•       .  .  .    n 

sledge     .  }  (       firm .         .  )       drich,  7  men. 

Supporting-  )    ,  (In  Deo  con-   )  Mr.  II.  R.  Pearso 

,   ,  [•   Hotspur  .         .    -j  ,  [ 

sledge      .  )  (        fide  .         .   )       (mate),  <  men. 

Lastly  to  Melville  Island,  on  which  route  a  depot,  forty 
miles  in  advance,  had  already  been  placed  in  the  autumn, 
and  renewed  in  the  spring,  the  following  party  was  appointed  : 
Lieut.  M'Clintock,  on  his  reaching  the  said  island,  acting  as 
he  should  judge  fit  as  to  despatching  Mr.  Bradford  along  the 
northern  shores,  whilst  he  prosecuted  the  search  to  and  be 
yond  Winter  Harbour : — 

Long-party  )  _  (  Persevere  to  )  Lieut.  M'Clintock,  6 

,   ,        J   [  Perseverance    •{     ..         .       [• 
sledge     .  )  (     the  end     .  j       men 

C  St.    George  ^ 
and  merry  I 
Do.  Resolute         .\     England      J- Dr. Bradford,  6  men. 

Onward  to     I 
I    the  rescue J 

Supporting  |  Excellent         j  Rcspice,        )  Mr.  W.  May  (mate), 
sledge     .  j  (     prospice      j"      6  men. 

Faithful    &  }  Mr.    Shcllabcar    (2d 
Do.  Dasher  .         .  \     . 

(     intrepid,     j       master),  6  men. 

j  Endeavour    )  Mr.   Chcyne  (mate), 
*  (    'to  deserve  j       7  men. 

Mr.  M'Dougal,  I  have  before  said,  started  during  the  first 
week  of  April  with  his  sledge,  the  "Beaufort," — 


DIVISIONS  OF  SLEDGES.  157 

That  future  pilgrims  of  the  wave  may  be 
Secure  from  doubt,  from  every  danger  free. 

He  had  to  replenish  the  depot  formed  for  Lieut.  M'Clin- 
tock,  and  then  to  connect  the  search  round  a  deep  bay,  which 
connected  Bathurst  and  Cornwallis  Lands,  for  separate  islands 
they  were  proved  by  him  no  longer  to  be. 

Thus  fifteen  sledges,  manned  by  one  hundred  and  five  men 
and  officers,  were  equipped  for  the  search,  leaving  on  board 
the  four  vessels  of  the  squadron,  seventy-five  souls,  which 
number  was  afterwards  further  reduced  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Allen 
being  sent  to  search  the  islands  to  the  westward  with  the 
sledge  "  Grinnell"  and  seven  men. 

It  now  only  remains  for  me  to  show  in  what  manner  it 
was  proposed  to  enable  the  supporting  sledges  to  apply  their 
resources,  so  that  the  long-parties  should  reach  far  beyond 
the  two  hundred  miles,  or  twenty  days'  journey,  of  which 
they  were  alone  capable  when  dependent  on  their  own  pro 
vision. 

The  plan  proposed  in  the  southern  division  will  give  the 
best  idea.  The  supporting  sledge  "Success"  was  capable 
of  feeding  all  the  division  for  five  days,  by  which  time  we 
hoped  to  be  at  Cape  Walker,  and  then  have  sufficient  to  re 
turn  back  to  the  squadron,  where  it  could  again  replenish, 
and,  returning  to  the  same  point  at  which  we  had  separated 
from  it,  form  such  a  depot  that  each  of  the  sledges  in  return 
would  find  five  days'  provisions  to  carry  them  home.  By 
this  means  six  out  of  the  seven  sledges  in  the  southern  search 
will  be  seen  to  reach  a  point  fifty  miles  from  their  original 
starting-point  in  perfect  condition  so  far  as  their  provisions 
are  concerned. 

We  will,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  cause  these  six  sledges 
to  divide  into  three  divisions,  of  two  each,  viz^  a  long-party 


158  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

sledge  and  a  support :  in  each  case  the  support  can  feed  the 
long  party  for  ten  days,  and  then,  forming  a  depot  of  pro 
visions  equal  to  ten  days  more,  have  sufficient  left  to  reach 
back  to  Walker,  and  thence  home.  The  long  party  are  now 
still  complete,  after  receiving  two  supports,  equal  to  fifteen 
days,  or  150  miles  ;  and  two  depots  stand  in  their  rear,  the 
one  for  ten  days,  the  other  for  five  days.  The  long  party 
now  starts,  consuming  its  own  provision  (forming  its  own 
depots  for  the  returning  march),  advances  for  twenty  days, 
and  accomplishes  200  miles;  which,  with  that  done  whilst 
supported,  makes  in  all  a  journey  outward  of  thirty-five 
days,  or  350  miles  from  the  ships.  Of  course,  with  an 
increased  number  of  supports,  this  distance  and  time  may  be 
carried  on  as  long  as  the  strength  of  the  men  will  endure,  or 
the  travelling  season  admit  of. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  the  day  calm  and  cold,  some  50° 
below  freezing-point,  a  scene  of  bustle  and  merriment  showed 
that  the  sledges  were  mustering  previous  to  being  taken  to 
the  starting-point,  under  the  north-west  bluff  of  Griffith's 
Island,  to  which  they  marched  with  due  military  pomp  in 
two  columns,  directed  by  our  chiefs.  Our  sense  of  decorum 
was  constantly  overthrown  by  the  gambols  of  divers  dogs, 
given  to  us  by  Captain  Penny,  with  small  sledges  attached 
to  them,  on  which,  their  food  duly  marked  and  weighed,  with 
flags,  mottoes,  &c.,  in  fact,  perfect  fac-si miles  of  our  own, 
were  racing  about,  entangling  themselves,  howling  for  assist 
ance,  or  else  running  between  the  men's  legs  and  capsizing 
them  on  the  snow,  amidst  shouts  of  laughter,  and  sly  witti 
cisms  at  the  tenders,  as  they  were  termed.  Reaching  the 
halting-place,  tents  were  pitched,  luncheon  served  out,  and 
all  of  us  inspected,  approved  of,  ordered  to  fall  in,  a  speech 
made,  which,  as  was  afterwards  remarked,  buttered  us  all  up 
admirably ;  the  thanks  of  our  leader  given  to  Mr.  M'Clintock, 


SLEDGES  READY  TO  START.  159 

to  whose  foresight,  whilst  in  England,  and  whose  valuable 
information  collated  during  his  travelling  experience  under 
Sir  James  Ross,  we  were  so  entirely  indebted  for  the  perfect 
equipment  we  now  had  with  us. 

The  inspection  over,  we  trudged  back  to  our  ships,  Sun 
day  being  spent  by  the  men  in  cooking  and  eating,  knowing 
as  they  did  that  there  were  a  good  many  banian  days  ahead, 
packing  up  and  putting  away  their  kits,  and  making  little 
arrangements  in  the  event  of  accidents  to  themselves.  Mon 
day  was  no  day  for  a  start ;  but  on  the  evening  of  the  15th 
April  the  breeze  slackened,  and  the  temperature  only  some 
14°  below  freezing-point,  we  donned  our  marching  attire, 
girded  up  our  loins,  and  all  hands  proceeded  to  the  sledges. 

As  we  shut  in  our  wooden  homes  with  a  projecting  point 
of  Griffith's  Island,  the  weather  suddenly  changed,  and  a  fast 
increasing  breeze  enveloped  us  in  snow-drift.  Reaching  the 
sledges,  and  shaking  them  clear  from  the  snow  of  the  last 
two  days,  a  hasty  cup  of  tea  and  a  mouthful  of  biscuit  were 
partaken  of,  a  prayer  offered  up,  beseeching  His  mercy  and 
guidance  whose  kind  providence  we  all  knew  could  alone 
support  us  in  the  hazardous  journey  we  were  about  to  under 
take  ;  hearty  farewells,  in  which  rough  jokes  covered  many 
a  kindly  wish  towards  one  another ;  and  then,  grasping  their 
tracking  lines,  a  hundred  hoarse  voices  joined  in  loud  cheers, 
and  the  divisions  of  sledges,  diverging  on  their  different 
routes,  were  soon  lost  to  one  another  in  snow  and  mist. 

An  April  night,  with  its  gray  twilight,  was  no  match  for 
the  darkness  of  a  snow-storm  from  the  S.  W.,  and  we  had 
almost  to  feel  our  road  through  the  broken  ice  off  the  bluffs 
of  Griffith's  Island. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  reached  much  piled-up 
ice ;  and  in  the  hope  of  clearer  weather  in  the  evening,  the 
word  to  halt  and  pitch  the  tents  was  given.  The  seven 


160  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

sledges  of  the  division,  picking  out  the  smoothest  spots,  were 
soon  secured.  The  tents  fluttering  in  the  breeze,  a  little  tea 
cooked,  short  orders  given,  and  then  each  man  got  into  his 
blanket-bag,  and  dreamed  of  a  fine  day  and  finding  Sir  John 
Franklin. 

In  the  evening  the  weather  was  still  thick  as  pea-soup, 
with  a  double-reef  topsail  breeze  blowing  in  our  teeth ;  but 
detention  was  impossible,  so  we  again  packed  up  after  a 
meal  of  chocolate  and  biscuit,  and  facing  towards  Cape 
Walker,  we  carried  the  hummocks  by  storm.  Ignorance 
was  bliss.  Straight  ahead,  over  and  through  every  thing, 
was  the  only  way;  and,  fresh,  hearty,  and  strong,  we  sur 
mounted  tier  after  tier,  which  more  light  and  a  clearer  view 
might  only  have  frightened  us  from  attempting.  Here,  a 
loud  cheer  told  where  a  sledge  had  scaled  the  pile  in  its  path, 
or  shot  in  safety  down  the  slope  of  some  huge  hummock. 
There,  the  cry,  one  !  two !  three  !  haul !  of  a  party,  and 
quizzical  jokes  upon  name,  flag,  or  motto,  betokened  that 
"Success"  or  "True  Blue"  had  floundered  into  a  snow- 
wreath,  above  which  the  top  of  the  sledge-load  was  only  to 
be  seen,  whilst  seven  red-faced  mortals,  grinning,  and  up  to 
their  waists  in  snow,  wrere  perseveringly  endeavouring  to 
extricate  it ;  officers  encouraging,  and  showing  the  way  ;  the 
men  labouring  and  laughing.  A  wilder  or  more  spirit-stirring 
scene  cannot  be  imagined. 

A  hard  night's  toil  cleared  all  obstacles,  and  nothing  but 
a  fair,  smooth  floe  was  before  us,  sweeping  with  a  curve  to  the 
base  of  Cape  Walker ;  but  a  fresh  difficulty  was  then  met 
with,  in  the  total  absence  of  hummock  or  berg-piece,  by 
which  to  preserve  a  course  in  the  thick,  foggy  weather,  that 
lasted  whilst  the  wrarm  south  wind  blew.  Imagine,  kind 
reader,  a  grayish  haze,  with  fast-falling  snow,  a  constant  wind 
in  the  face,  and  yourself  trying  to  steer  a  straight  course 


TRAVELLING  BY  NIGHT.  161 

where  floe  and  sky  were  of  one  uniform  colour.  A  hand  dog- 
vane  was  found  the  best  guide,  for  of  course  it  was  impos 
sible  to  keep  a  compass  constantly  in  hand ;  and  the  officers 
forming  in  a  line  ahead,  so  as  just  to  keep  a  good  sight 
of  one  another,  were  followed  by  the  sledges,  the  crews  of 
which  soon  learned  that  the  easiest  mode  of  travelling,  and 
most  equal  division  of  labour,  consisted  in  marching  directly 
after  one  another ;  and  as  the  leading  sledge  had  the  extra 
work  of  forming  the  road  through  the  snow,  and  straining  the 
men's  eyes  in  keeping  sight  of  the  officers,  the  foremost 
sledge  was  changed  every  half  hour  or  hour,  according  to 
their  will. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  travelled  by  night,  arid  hoped  by 
such  means  to  avoid  the  glare  of  the  sun,  and  consequent 
snow-blindness.  It  entailed,  however,  at  this  early  season 
of  the  year,  great  suffering  in  the  shape  of  cold,  the  people 
being  exposed  to  the  weather  during  the  severest  part  of  the 
day.  From  the  15th  to  the  19th  the  weather  was  of  the  same 
nature, — constant  gales  of  wind  in  our  faces,  snow-storms, 
and  heavy  drift  ;  against  which  we  struggled,  helped  by  a 
rising  temperature,  that  we  flattered  ourselves  woul'd  end  in 
summer, — a  mistake  for  which  we  afterwards  suffered  bit 
terly,  the  men  having,  from  the  ease  with  which  they  kept 
themselves  warm,  become  careless  of  their  clothing,  and  heed 
less  of  those  precautions  against  frost-bite  which  a  winter's 
experience  had  taught  them. 

Easter  Sunday  came  in  gloomily,  with  a  wind  inclined  to 
veer  to  the  northward,  and  with  every  appearance  of  bad 
weather.  Setting  our  sails  on  the  sledges,  and  kites  likewise 
when  the  wind  served,  the  division  hurried  on  for  Cape 
Walker,  which  loomed  now  and  then  through  the  snow-drift 
ahead  of  us.  The  rapidity  of  the  pace  at  which  we  now  ad 
vanced — thanks  to  the  help  afforded  by  the  sails — threw  all 


162  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

into  a  profuse  perspiration,  especially  the  seamen,  who  really 
looked  as  if  toiling  under  a  tropical  sun  rather  than  in 
an  arctic  night,  with  the  temperature  below  freezing-point. 
Fatigue  obliged  us  to  halt  short  of  the  land,  and  postpone  for 
another  day's  march  the  landing  on  the  unvisited  shores  of 
Cape  Walker. 

During  the  sleeping  hours,  the  increased  attention  to  the 
fur  covering,  and  the  carefully  closed  door,  told  us  that  the 
temperature  was  falling ;  and  the  poor  cook,  with  a  rueful 
countenance,  announced  that  it  was  below  zero,  as  he  pre 
pared  the  morning  meal.  More  than  usual  difficulty  was 
found  in  pulling  on  our  stiffly-frozen  boots,  stockings,  and 
outer  garments  ;  and  when  the  men  went  out  of  the  tent 
they  soon  found  their  clothing  becoming  perfectly  hard,  from 
the  action  of  the  intense  cold  on  what  had  been  for  several 
days  saturated  with  perspiration.  To  start  and  march  briskly 
was  now  the  only  safety,  and  in  double-quick  time  tents  were 
down  and  sledges  moving.  A  nor'-wester  was  fast  turning 
up,  and  as  the  night  of  Easter  Monday  closed  around  us, 
the  cold  increased  with  alarming  rapidity.  One  of  those 
magnificent  conglomerations  of  halos  and  parhelia  common 
to  these  regions  lit  up  the  northern  heavens,  and,  by  the 
brilliancy  of  colouring  and  startling  number  of  false  suns, 
seemed  as  if  to  be  mocking  the  sufferings  of  our  gallant  fel 
lows,  who,  with  faces  averted  and  bended  bodies,  strained 
every  nerve  to  reach  the  land,  in  hopes  of  obtaining  moro 
shelter  than  the  naked  floe  afforded  from  the  nipping  effects 
of  the  cutting  gale.  Every  moment  some  fresh  case  of  frost 
bite  would  occur,  which  the  watchful  care  of  the  officers 
would  immediately  detect.  The  man  would  fall  out  from 
his  sledge,  restore  the  circulation  of  the  affected  part,  gen 
erally  the  face,  and  then  hasten  back  to  his  post.  Constant 
questions  of  "  How  are  your  feet?"  were  heard  on  all  sides, 


COLD  AND  FROST-BITES.  163 

with  the  general  response,  "  Oh !  I  hope  they  are  all  right ; 
but  I've  not  felt  them  since  I  pulled  my  boots  on." 

One  halt  was  made  to  remove  and  change  all  leather 
boots,  which,  in  consequence  of  our  late  warm  weather,  had 
been  taken  into  use,  but  were  now  no  longer  safe ;  and  then, 
with  a  rally,  the  piled-up  floe  around  the  cliffs  of  Cape 
Walker  was  reached.  Cold  and  hungry  as  we  were,  it  must 
have  been  a  heavy  barrier  indeed  to  have  stopped  our  men 
from  taking  their  sledges  to  the  land  ;  and  piled  as  the  floe 
was  against  the  Cape,  full  fifty  feet  high,  we  carried  our  craft 
over  it  in  safety,  and  just  in  time  too,  for  the  north-west 
wind  rushed  down  upon  us,  as  if  to  dispute  our  right  to 
intrude  on  its  dominion.  Hastily  securing  the  tents,  we 
hurried  in  to  change  our  boots,  and  to  see  whether  our  feet 
were  frost-bitten  or  not ;  for  it  was  only  by  ocular  proof  that 
one  could  be  satisfied  of  their  safety,  sensation  having  appa 
rently  long  ceased.  I  shall  not  easily  forget  my  painful 
feelings,  when  one  gallant  fellow  of  my  party,  the  captain  of 
the  sledge,  exclaimed,  "  Both  feet  gone,  sir!"  and  sure  enough 
they  were,  white  as  two  lumps  of  ice,  and  equally  cold  ;  for 
as  we  of  the  tent  party  anxiously  in  turn  placed  our  warm 
hands  on  the  frost-bitten  feet,  the  heat  was  extracted  in  a 
marvellously  short  time,  and  our  half-frozen  hands  had  to  be 
succeeded  by  fresh  ones  as  quickly  as  possible.  With  re 
turning  circulation  the  poor  fellow's  agonies  must  have  been 
intense  ;  and  some  hours  afterwards  large  blisters  formed 
over  the  frost-bitten  parts,  as  if  the  feet  had  been  severely 
scalded.  Sadly  cramped  as  we  were  for  room,  much  worse 
was  it  when  a  sick  man  was  amongst  our  number.  Sleep 
was  out  of  the  question  ;  and  to  roll  up  in  the  smallest  pos 
sible  compass,  and  try  to  think  of  something  else  than  the 
cold,  which  pierced  to  the  very  marrow  in  one's  bones,  was 
our  only  resource. 


164  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Next  day,  Tuesday,  22d  April,  wind  N.  W.  blowing 
hard,  and  temperature  at  44°  below  freezing-point,  parties 
left  the  encampment  under  Lieutenants  Browne  and  Mecham, 
to  look  around  for  cairns,  &c.,  and  report  upon  the  trend  of 
the  land,  whilst  the  rest  of  us  secured  a  depot  of  Halkett's 
boats,  and  built  a  cairn  as  a  record  of  our  visit. 

As  it  is  not  my  intention  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
operations  of  the  Southern  Division,  but  merely  to  tell  of 
those  events  which  will  convey  to  the  reader  a  general  idea 
of  the  incidents  connected  with  Arctic  travelling,  I  shall  with 
out  further  comment  give  them,  leaving  to  the  curious  in  the 
minutiae  of  the  journeys  the  amusement  of  reading  in  the  Ad 
miralty  Blue  Books  the  details  of  when  we  eat,  drank,  slept, 
or  marched. 

Cape  Walker  was  found  to  form  the  eastern  and  most 
lofty  extreme  of  a  land-trending  to  the  south-west  on  its 
northern  coast,  and  to  the  south  on  its  eastern  shore.  The 
cape  itself,  full  1000  feet  in  altitude,  was  formed  of  red  sand 
stone  and  conglomerate,  very  abrupt  to  the  eastwaTd,  but 
dipping  with  an  undulating  outline  to  the  west. 

In  its  immediate  neighbourhood  no  traces  of  Franklin 
having  visited  it  were  to  be  seen,  and,  as  a  broad  channel 
ran  to  the  southward  (there  was  every  reason  to  believe 
down  to  the  American  continent,  and  thence  to  Behring's 
Straits),  by  which  Franklin  might  have  attempted  to  pass, 
Captain  Ommanney,  very  properly  despatched  Lieutenant 
Browne  to  examine  the  coast  of  Cape  Walker  Land,  down 
the  channel  to  the  southward  ;  and  then,  the  "  Success"  sledge 
having  previously  departed  with  invalids,  the  five  remaining 
sledges,  on  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  April,  marched  to  the 
westward.  Previous  to  that  date  it  had  been  impossible  to 
move,  on  account  of  a  strong  gale  in  our  faces,  together  with 
a  severe  temperature. 


INJURY  TO   THE  EYES.  1(>5 

Every  mile  that  we  advanced  showed  us  that  the  coast 
was  one  which  could  only  be  approachable  by  ships  at  extra 
ordinary  seasons:  the  ice  appeared  the  accumulation  of  many 
years,  and  bore,  for  some  forty  miles,  a  quiet,  undisturbed 
look.  Then  we  passed  into  a  region  with  still  more  aged 
features  :  there  the  inequalities  on  the  surface,  occasioned  by 
the  repeated  snows  of  winter  and  thaws  of  summer,  gave  it 
the  appearance  of  a  constant  succession  of  hill  and  dale.  En 
tangled  amongst  it,  our  men  laboured  with  untiring  energy, 
irp  steep  acclivities  and  through  pigmy  ravines,  in  which  the 
loose  snow  caused  them  to  sink  deeply,  and  sadly  increased 
their  toil.  To  avoid  this  description  of  ice,  amongst  which  a 
lengthened  journey  became  perfectly  hopeless,  we  struck  in 
for  the  land,  preferring  the  heavy  snow  that  encumbered  the 
beach  to  such  a  heart-breaking  struggle  as  that  on  the  floe. 
The  injury  had,  however,  been  done  during  our  last  day's 
labour  among  the  hummocks  ;  a  fine  clear  evening  had  given 
us  the  full  effects  of  a  powerful  sunlight  upon  the  pure  virgin- 
snow  :  the  painful  effect,  those  alone  can  conceive  who  have 
witnessed  it.  All  was  white,  brilliant,  and  dazzling  ;  the  eye 
in  vain  turned  from  earth  to  heaven  for  rest  or  shade, — there 
was  none  ;  an  unclouded  sunlight  poured  through  the  calm 
and  frosty  air  with  merciless  power,  and  the  sun,  being  ex 
actly  in  our  faces,  increased  the  intensity  of  its  effects. 

That  day  several  complained  of  a  dull  aching  sensation  in 
the  eyeball,  as  if  it  had  been  overstrained,  and  on  the  morrow 
blindness  was  rapidly  coming  on.  From  experience,  I  can 
speak  of  the  mental  anxiety  which  must  have  likewise,  with 
others,  supervened,  at  the  thought  of  one's  entire  helplessness, 
and  the  encumbrance  one  had  become  to  others,  who.  God 
knows,  had  troubles  and  labour  enough  of  their  own.  Grad 
ually  the  film  spread  itself,  objects  became  dimmer  and 
dimmer,  and  at  last  all  was  darkness,  with  an  intense  horror 


16t>  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

of  the  slightest  ray  of  sunlight.  In  this  condition,  many  of 
the  four  sledge-parties  reached  a  place  called  by  us  all,  in 
commemoration  of  the  event,  "  Snow-blind  Point,"  at  the 
entrance  of  a  bay  in  100°  W.  long. 

Unable  to  advance  in  consequence  of  a  severe  gale,  which 
raged  for  six-and-thirty  hours,  we  found,  on  the  1st  of  May, 
that  sixteen  men  and  one  officer  were,  more  or  less,  snow- 
blind  and  otherwise  unwell ;  a  large  proportion  out  of  the 
entire  number  of  thirty  souls.  To  be  ill  in  any  place  is 
trying  enough  ;  but  such  an  hospital  as  a  brown-holland  tent, 
with  the  thermometer  in  it  at  18°  below  zero,  the  snow  for 
a  bed,  your  very  breath  forming  into  a  small  snow  called 
"  barber,"  which  penetrated  into  your  very  innermost  gar 
ments,  and  no  water  to  be  procured  to  assuage  the  thirst  of 
fever  until  snow  had  been  melted  for  the  purpose,  called  for 
much  patience  on  the  part  of  the  patients,  and  true  Samaritan 
feelings  on  the  part  of  the  "doctors," — a  duty  which  had  now 
devolved  on  each  officer  of  a  sledge-party,  or,  in  default  of 
him,  upon  some  kind  volunteer  amongst  the  men.  Happily, 
the  effects  of  snow-blindness  are  not  lasting,  for  we  recovered 
as  suddenly  as  we  had  been  struck  down.  The  gale  blew 
itself  out,  leaving  all  calm  and  still,  as  if  the  death-like  sce 
nery  was  incapable  of  such  wild  revelry  as  it  had  been  en 
joying  ;  and  again  we  plodded  onwards,  parting  from  the 
last  supporting  sledge  on  the  6th  of  May. 

Since  leaving  Cape  Walker  on  the  24th  of  April,  we  had 
gradually  passed,  in  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  from  a  red 
sandstone  to  a  limestone  region  ;  the  scenery  at  every  mile 
becoming  more  and  more  monotonous,  and  less  marked  by 
bold  outline,  cliff,  or  mountain  :  as  for  as  the  bay,  of  which 
Snow-blind  Point  formed  one  extreme,  a  long  range  of  hills, 
soft  and  rounded  in  contour,  faced  the  sea,  and  sloped  to  it 
with  a  gradual  inclination,  some  three  miles  in  length  ;  ravines 


ZEAL   OF  THE  MEN.  167 

became  more  and  more  scarce ;  and  after  passing  the  bay,  in 
100°  long.  W.,  none  of  any  size  were  to  be  seen.  Drearily 
monotonous  as  all  Arctic  scenery  must  naturally  be,  when 
one  universal  mantle  of  snow  makes  earth  and  water  alike, 
such  a  tame  region  as  this  was,  if  possible,  more  so  ;  and 
walking  along  the  weary  terraces,  which  in  endless  succession 
swept  far  into  the  interior,  and  then  only  rose  in  diminutive 
heights  of  maybe  500  feet,  I  recalled  to  memory  the  like 
melancholy  aspect  of  the  Arctic  shores  of  Asia  as  described 
by  Baron  Wrangell. 

The  broken  and  rugged  nature  of  the  floes  obliged  us  to 
keep  creeping  along  the  coast-line,  whilst  our  ignorance  of 
the  land  ahead,  its  trend  or  direction,  occasioned,  together 
with  the  endless  thick  weather  that  we  had  until  the  14th 
May,  many  a  weary  mile  to  be  trodden  over,  which  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  bays  or  indentations  would  have  saved  us.  It 
was  under  such  unprofitable  labour  that  the  sterling  value  of 
our  men  the  more  conspicuously  showed  itself.  Captain 
Ommanney,  myself,  and  Mr.  Webb  of  the  "  Pioneer,"  (who 
sooner  than  be  left  behind  had  voluntarily  taken  his  place  as 
one  of  the  sledge-crew,)  were  the  only  three  officers ;  we 
were  consequently  thrown  much  into  the  society  of  the  men, 
and  1  feel  assured  1  am  not  singular  in  saying  that  that  inter 
course  served  much  to  raise  our  opinion  of  the  character  and 
indomitable  spirit  of  our  seamen  and  marines.  On  them  fell 
the  hard  labour,  to  us  fell  the  honours  of  the  enterprise,  and 
to  our  chief  the  reward ;  yet  none  equalled  the  men  in  cheer 
fulness  and  sanguine  hopefulness  of  a  successful  issue  to  our 
enterprise,  without  which,  of  course,  energy  would  soon  have 
flagged.  Gallant  fellows  !  they  met  our  commiseration  with 
a  smile,  and  a  vow  that  they  could  do  far  more.  They  spoke 
of  cold  as  ';  Jack  Frost,"  a  real  tangible  foe,  with,  whom  they 
could  combat  and  would  master.  Hunger  was  met  with  ;i 


168  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

laugh,  and  a  chuckle  at  some  future  feast  or  jolly  recollections 
told,  in  rough  terms,  of  by-gone  good  cheer;  and  often,  stand 
ing  on  some  neighbouring  pile  of  ice,  and  scanning  the  horizon 
for  those  we  sought,  have  I  heard  a  rough  voice  encouraging 
the  sledge-crew  by  saying,  "  Keep  step,  boys  !  keep  step  ! 
she  (the  sledge)  is  coming  along  almost  by  herself:  there's 
the  '  Erebus's'  masts  showing  over  the  point  ahead  !  Keep 
step,  boys  !  keep  step  !" 

We  had  our  moments  of  pleasure  too, — plenty  of  them, 
in  spite  of  the  cold,  in  spite  of  fatigue.  There  was  an  honest 
congratulation  after  a  good  day's  work  ;  there  was  the  time 
after  the  pemmican  had  been  eaten,  and  each  one,  drawing 
up  his  blanket-bag  around  him,  sat,  pannikin  in  hand,  and 
received  from  the  cook  the  half-gill  of  grog  ;  and  after 
drinking  it,  there  was  sometimes  an  hour's  conversation,  in 
which  there  was  more  hearty  merriment,  I  trow,  than  in 
many  a  palace, — dry  witticisms,  or  caustic  remarks,  which 
made  one's  sides  ache  with  laughter.  An  old  marine,  may 
hap,  telling  a  giddy  lamby  of  a  seaman  to  take  his  advice 
and  never  to  be  more  than  a  simple  private  ;  for,  as  he  phil-' 
osophically  argued,  "  whilst  you're  that,  do  you  see,  you 
have  to  think  of  nothing  :  there  are  petty  officers,  officers, 
captains,  and  admirals  paid  for  looking  after  you  and  taking 
care  of  you !"  or  perhaps  some  scamp,  with  mock  solemnity, 
wondering  whether  his  mother  was  thinking  of  him,  and 
whether  she  would  cry  if  he  never  returned  to  England ; 
on  which  a  six-foot  marine  remarks,  that  "  thank  God,  he 
has  got  no  friends ;  and  there  would  only  be  two  people  in 
England  to  cry  about  him, — the  one,  the  captain  of  his 
company,  who  liked  him  because  he  was  the  tallest  man  in 
it,  and  the  canteen  sergeant,  whom  he  had  forgot  to  pay  for 
some  beer."^  Now  a  joke  about  our  flags  and  mottoes,  which 
one  vowed  to  be  mere  jack-acting ;  then  a  learned  disquisi- 


PLEASING  DREAMS.  169 

tion  on  raising  the  devil,  which  one  of  the  party  declared  he 
had  seen  done,  one  Sunday  afternoon,  for  the  purpose  of 
borrowing  some  cash  to  play  skittles  with.  In  fact,  care 
and  thought  were  thrown  to  the  winds  ;  and,  tired  as  we 
were,  sleep  often  overtook  us,  still  laughing  at  the  men's 
witticisms.  And  then  such  dreams, — they  seemed  as  if  an 
angel  had  sent  them  to  reward  us  for  the  hard  realities  of 
the  day  :  we  revelled  in  a  sweet  elysium ;  home  was  around 
us, — friends,  kind,  good  friends,  plenty  smiled  on  every  side ; 
we  eat,  drank,  and  were  merry ;  we  visited  old  scenes  with 
by-gone  shipmates ;  even  those  who  had  long  gone  to  that 
bourne  whence  traveller  returneth  not,  came  back  to  cheer 
our  sleeping  hours  ;  and  many  a  one,  nigh  forgot  amongst 
the  up-hill  struggles  of  life,  returned  to  gladden  us  with  their 
smiles :  and  as  we  awoke  to  the  morning  meal,  many  a 
regret  would  be  heard  that  so  pleasant  a  delusion  as  the  night 
had  been  spent  in  should  be  dispelled  :  ^ach  succeeding  night, 
however,  brought  again  "  the  cherub  that  watcheth  over 
poor  Jack,"  to  throw  sunny  thoughts  around  the  mind,  and 
thus  relieve  our  wayworn  bodies. 

On  the  14th  of  May,  the  "  Reliance"  and  "True  Blue" 
sledges  reached  a  wide  break  in  the  continuation  of  the  land, 
looking  like  a  channel,  and  some  heights  to  the  S.  W.  ap 
peared  to  mark  the  opposite  shore  of  a  channel  full  twenty- 
five  miles  wide.  Captain  Ommanney  and  myself  ascended 
an  elevated  mass  of  table-land,  and  looked  upon  the  wide 
spread  wintry  scene.  Landward,  to  the  south,  and  far  over 
the  rugged  and  frozen  sea,  all  was  death-like  and  silent  as  the 
grave  :  we  felt  we  might  have  been  the  first  since  "  creation's 
morn"  to  have  looked  upon  it;  the  very  hills  were  still 
clothed  in  their  winter's  livery,  and  the  eye  could  not  detect 
the  line  of  demarkation  between  land  and  sea.  The  frozen 
foot-prints  of  a  musk-ox  excited  our  curiosity,  as  being  the 

8 


170  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

first  and  only  ones  we  had  seen,  and,  together  with  like 
traces  of  reindeer,  a  short  distance  from  Cape  Walker,  was  the 
sum  total  of  the  realization  of  all  our  once  rosy  anticipations 
of  beef  and  venison  to  be  found  during  the  southern  journey. 

Ptarmigan,  in  small  numbers,  were  occasionally  seen, 
and  about  four  brace  shot ;  and  now  and  then  a  stray  fox 
was  espied,  watching  us,  although  their  numerous  tracks 
showed  them  to  be  pretty  plentiful  :  traces  of  hares  were 
very  numerous,  but  none  were  fallen  in  with  by  our  sports 
men,  except  at  Cape  Walker,  where  many  were  seen  by 
later  visitors,  and  several  shot ;  indeed,  it  appeared  as  if  it 
was  the  limit,  in  this  direction,  of  animal  life  :  the  Polar 
bears,  and  ergo  the  seals,  not  showing  themselves  west  of 
the  same  headland  in  our  route. 

On  the  17th  May  the  "Reliance"  and  "True  Blue" 
parted  company,  each  having  provisions  left  to  enable  them 
to  advance  for  a  further  period  of  five  days ;  Captain  Orn- 
manney  generously  allowing  me,  his  junior,  to  take  the  search 
up  in  a  westerly  direction,  whilst  he  went  down  the  channel 
to  the  southward,  which  after  all  ended  in  a  blind  bay.  I 
went  some  fifty  miles  farther,  and,  finding  the  coast  trend  to 
the  south,  endeavoured  to  march  in  a  westerly  direction 
across  the  floe.  The  sledge  was  light,  with  only  ten  days' 
provision,  and  the  men  were  well  inured  to  their  work ;  but 
I  saw,  that  from  the  severe  strains  that  were  brought  on  the 
fastenings  of  the  sledge,  that  wood,  iron,  and  lashings  would 
not  long  stand  it ;  and  as  every  foot  we  advanced,  progress 
became  more  laborious,  and  risk  greater,  I  desisted  in  the 
attempt;  for,  situated  as  we  were,  nigh  three  hundred  miles 
from  our  ship,  the  breaking  down  of  the  sledge  would  have 
entailed  fearful  misery,  if  not  destruction,  to  my  party. 
Turning  southward,  we  again  closed  the  land,  when  another 
severe  storm,  on  the  21st,  of  May,  obliged  us  to  takf 


CONCLUSION  OF  JOURNEY.  171 

shelter  in  our  tent,  and  remain  there  until  it  was  time  to 
return. 

The  journey  homeward  was  light  work  :  the  sledges  were 
now  half  emptied;  the  weather  had  become  mild,  being  only 
a  little  below  freezing-point ;  we  knew  the  ground,  and  could 
make  short  cuts,  and  by  forced  marches  we  succeeded  in 
making  two  days'  journey  in  one,  thereby  giving  ourselves  a 
double  quantity  of  food  to  consume.  Lost  flesh  was  quickly 
recovered ;  and  the  two  sledges,  again  rejoining,  reached 
by  the  night  of  the  4th  of  June  a  depot  formed  at  Snow-blind 
Bay. 

Here  we  met  Lieutenant  Mecham.  He  informed  us  that 
neither  by  our  parties,  or  those  of  Penny's,  had  intelligence 
of  Franklin  been  brought  back  by  the  supporting  sledges. 
There  was,  however,  hope  yet :  the  long  parties  had  not  yet 
come  in ;  and  Captain  Penny  had  been  stopped  by  water — 
open  water — early  in  May.  He  had  again  gone  out  with  a 
boat ;  and  all  attention  was  directed  to  Wellington  Channel, 
for  every  one  felt  that  on  no  other  route  was  there  a  chance 
of  Franklin  being  heard  of.  Lastly,  great  fears  were  enter 
tained  lest  our  long  parties  should  not  beat  those  of  the 
"Lady  Franklin"  and  "Sophia"  in  time  and  distance;  a 
piece  of  e sprit-de-corps  highly  commendable,  no  doubt,  but 
which,  I  blush  to  say,  I  took  no  interest  in,  having  gone  to 
the  Arctic  regions  for  other  motives  and  purposes  than  to 
run  races  for  a  Newmarket  cup,  or  to  be  backed  against  the 
field  like  a  Whitechapel  game-cock. 

Whilst  Captain  Omrnanney  went  to  Cape  Walker  for 
some  observations,  we  pulled  foot  (with  forced  marches) 
straight  across  the  floe  for  Griffith's  Island.  Every  hour 
wasted  in  the  return  journey  was  a  crime,  we  felt,  towards 
those  whom  we  had  come  here  to  save.  The  fast  increasing 
heat  told  that  the  open  season  was  at  hand  :  nnH  ovon  if  \rp 


172  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

could  not  get  our  ship  to  the  water,  we  had  brought  out  a 
number  of  beautiful  boats,  built  expressly,  at  a  great  ex 
pense  ;  our  foot  journeys  in  the  spring  had  been  new  and 
successful,  what  might  we  not  yet  expect  from  boat  expedi 
tions  when  the  floes  were  in  motion  1 

On  reaching  that  part  of  the  frozen  strait  which  was  evi 
dently  covered  with  only  one  season's  ice,  namely,  that  of 
about  three  feet  in  thickness,  symptoms  of  a  speedy  disrup 
tion  were  very  apparent ;  long  narrow  cracks  extended  con 
tinuously  for  miles;  the  snow  from  the  surface  had  all  melted, 
and,  running  through,  served  to  render  the  ice-fields  porous 
and  spongy  :  the  joyful  signs  hurried  us  on,  though  not  with 
out  suffering  from  the  lack  of  pure  snow,  with  which  to  pro 
cure  water  for  drinking.  At  last  Griffith's  Island  rose  above 
the  horizon  ;  a  five-and-twenty-mile  march  brought  us  to  it, 
and  another  heavy  drag  through  the  melting  snow  carried  us 
to  our  ships,  on  the  12th  June,  after  a  journey  of  five  hun 
dred  miles  in  direct  lines,  in  fifty-eight  days.  We  were 
punished  for  our  last  forced  march  by  having  five  out  of  the 
sledge-crew  laid  up  with  another  severe  attack  of  snow- 
blindness. 

Eight-and-forty  hours  afterwards,  Captain  Ommanney 
arrived;  he  had  crossed  some  of  the  cracks  in  the  floe 
with  difficulty,  aided  by  a  bridge  of  boarding-pikes ;  and 
Lieut.  Mechani,  with  the  sledge  "  Russell,"  coming  from 
Cape  Walker,  on  the  17th  of  June,  was  obliged  to  desert 
his  sledge,  and  wade  through  water  and  sludge  to  Griffith's 
Island,  and  thence  to  the  ships  :  showing  how  remarkably 
the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  Barrow's  Strait  promised  to 
coincide  in  date  with  the  time  it  was  first  seen  to  be  in 
motion,  by  Sir  E.  Parry's  squadron,  in  1820. 

All  the  parties  were  now  in,  except  three  sledges  and 
twenty-one  men,  towards  Melville  Island;  the  supports  in 


LIEUTENANT  WCLINTOCK  RETURNS.  173 

that  direction  had  suffered  in  about  the  same  ratio  as  our 
selves  to  the  southward ;  the  progress,  however,  as  might  be 
expected  where  the  coast-line  was  known,  was  more  rapid. 
The  total  number  of  accidents  from  frost-bites  amounted  to 
eighteen,  and  amongst  them  were  several  cases  in  which 
portions  of  injured  feet  had  to  be  amputated  ;  only  one  man 
had  fallen,  John  Malcolm,  a  seaman  of  the  "  Resolute  ;"  he, 
poor  fellow,  appears  to  have  been  delicate  from  the  outset, 
having  fainted  on  his  road  to  the  place  of  inspection  and 
departure,  in  April,  1851. 

After  an  absence  of  sixty-two  days,  Lieut.  Aldrich,  with 
the  "  Lady  Franklin"  sledge,  arrived  from  By  am  Martin 
Channel.  He  had  searched  the  west  coast  of  Bathurst 
Island,  which  tended  a  little  westerly  of  north  until  in 
latitude  76°  15'  N.  At  that  point,  the  channel  was  still 
full  twenty  miles  wide  between  Bathurst  and  Melville 
Islands,  and  extended  northward  as  far  as  could  be  seen. 
The  only  things  of  note  observed,  were  reindeer,  in  the 
month  of  April,  on  Bathurst  Island,  and,  with  the  temper 
ature  at  60°  below  freezing-point,  they  were  grazing  on  moss 
or  lichen  ;  this  point  placed  beyond  doubt  the  fact,  which  is 
now  incontestable,  that  the  animals  of  the  Parry  group  do 
not  migrate  to  the  American  continent  in  the  winter.  On 
his  way  back,  Lieut.  A.  fell  in  with  large  flocks  of  wild  fowl 
winging  their  way  northward. 

The  floes  around  our  ships  were  entirely  covered  with  the 
water  of  the  melted  snow,  in  some  places  full  four  feet  in 
depth,  eating  its  way  rapidly  through  in  all  directions,  when 
Lieut.  M'Clintock's  sledge,  the  "  Perseverance,"  and  the 
"  Resolute"  sledge,  Dr.  Bradford's,  hove  in  sight,  having 
been  out  exactly  eighty  days.  Lieut.  M'Clintock  had  been 
to  Winter  Harbour,  and  visited  all  the  points  known  to 
Parry's  squadron,  such  as  Bushman  Cove,  Cape  Dundas, 


174  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

&c. ;  but  of  course  no  traces  of  Franklin.  He  had,  however, 
brought  a  portion  of  Parry's  last  wheel,  used  in  his  journey, 
and  substantial  proofs  of  the  extraordinary  abundance  of  ani 
mal  life  in  that  remote  region,  in  the  hides  and  heads  of 
musk-oxen,  the  meat  of  which  had  helped  to  bring  back  his 
crew  in  wonderful  condition.  Eighty  head  of  oxen  and  rein 
deer  had  been  counted  by  Mr.  M'Clintock,  and  he  could  have 
shot  as  many  as  he  pleased.  Dr.  Bradford's  journey  was  not 
so  cheering  a  one.  He  had  been  early  knocked  up  from  a 
fall, — serious  symptoms  threatened,  and  for  nearly  a  month 
the  gallant  officer  was  dragged  upon  his  sledge;  carrying  out 
— thanks  to  his  own  pluck,  and  the  zeal  of  his  men — the 
object  of  his  journey, — the  search  of  the  eastern  side  of 
Melville  Island.  We  were  now  all  in  :  Lieut.  M'Clintock 
had  fairly  won  the  palm, — "  pal  mam  qui  meruit  ferat ;"  in 
eighty  days  he  had  travelled  eight  hundred  miles,  and 
heartily  did  we  congratulate  him  on  his  success. 

The  day  following,  July  7th,  I  and  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  "  Pioneer"  started  to  visit  Penny's  expedition  :  he  was 
expected  back,  and  we  longed  to  hear  the  news  ;  Captain 
Penny  having  last  been  reported  to  have  reached  the  water 
with  a  sound  boat,  a  good  crew,  and  a  month's  provisions. 
Landfng  at  Cape  Martyr,  wet  up  to  our  necks  with  splashing 
through  the  pools  of  water,  nowhere  less  than  knee-deep,  and 
often  a  mile  in  extent,  we  did  not  willingly  leave  the  dry 
land  again.  On  ascending  a  slope  which  gave  us  a  view  of 
the  south  shore  of  Corn  wall  is  Island  as  far  as  Cape  Hotham, 
and  near  a  point  known  as  that  whence  the  dog-sledges  in  the 
winter  used  to  strike  off  when  communicating  with  the  ships. 
our  astonishment  was  great  at  finding  the  ice  of  Barrow's 
Strait  to  have  broken  up  ; — the  gray  light  of  the  morning, 
and  the  perfect  calm,  prevented  us  seeing  to  what  extent,  but 
there  was  plenty  of  it,  and  a  sea  again  gladdened  our  eye- 


DISAPPEARANCE  OF  IGK  175 

sight.  Oh  !  it  was  a  joyous,  exhilarating  sight,  after  nine 
months  of  eternal  ice  and  snow. 

The  ground  flew  under  our  feet  as,  elevated  in  spirits,  we 
walked  rapidly  into  Assistance  Bay,  and  grasped  by  the  hand 
our  old  friends  of  the  "  Lady  Franklin."  We  had  each  our 
tale  to  recount,  our  news  to  exchange,  our  hopes  and  disap 
pointments  to  prose  over.  One  thing  was  undoubtedly 
certain, — that,  on  May  16th,  Captain  Penny  had  discovered 
a  great  extent  of  water  northward  of  Cornwallis  Island  :  that 
this  same  water  prevented  Captain  Stewart,  of  the  "  Sophia," 
from  passing  some  precipitous  cliffs,  against  which  a  heavy 
sea  was  beating  :  that  this  same  sea  was  clear  of  all  but  sea- 
washed  ice,  and  no  floes  were  to  be  seen.  Moreover,  owing 
to  a  southerly  breeze,  which  blew  away  to  seaward  the  ice 
over  which  Dr.  Goodsir  had  advanced  to  the  westward,  his 
retreat  was  nearly  endangered  by  the  water  obliging  him 
with  his  sledge  to  take  to  the  neighbouring  heights  :  and  all 
this,  a  month  before  any  thing  like  a  disruption  had  taken 
place  in  Barrow's  Strait.  This  latter  event,  it  seems,  took 
place  about  the  25th  of  June,  1851  ;  and,  on  the  28th  June, 
the  commander  of  the  "  Sophia"  had  gone  in  a  whale-boat 
from  the  entrance  of  the  harbour  to  Wellington  Channel. 

Three  days  after  our  arrival  at  Assistance  Harbour,  not  a 
particle  of  ice  was  to  be  seen,  east  or  west,  in  Barrow's 
Strait,  looking  from  the  highland  on  the  east  side  of  the 
anchorage,  except  between  Griffith's  Island  and  Cape  Martyr, 
where,  some  ten  miles  from  the  water,  and  in  the -centre  of  a 
fixed  floe,  our  unlucky  squadron  was  jammed.  Every  where 
else  a  clear  sea  spread  itself,  sparkling  and  breaking  under  a 
fresh  southerly  breeze.  Some  individuals,  who  had  visited 
Cape  Hotham,  reported  the  water  in  Wellington  Channel  to 
have  made  up  as  high  as  Barlow  Inlet,  beyond  which,  up  to 
the  north  water,  a  floe  still  intervened. 


176  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

In  default  of  Penny's  arrival,  I  was  much  interested  in  a 
journey,  upon  which  Mr.  John  Stuart,  surgeon  of  the  "  Lady 
Franklin,"  had  been  despatched  to  follow  the  traces  of  some 
of  Franklin's  sledges,  towards  Caswell's  Tower,  and  to  re-ex 
amine  the  traces  found  in  1850.  The  sledge-tracts,  which  I 
have  elsewhere  alluded  to,  as  existing  on  the  east  side  of* 
"  Erebus  and  Terror  Bay,"  Mr.  Stuart  found,  as  we  conjec 
tured,  to  have  been  those  of  some  exploring  party,  sent  from 
Beechey  Island  to  Caswell's  Tower,  in  Radstock  Bay  ;  for 
at  the  base  of  the  said  tower — a  remarkable  detached  mass 
of  limestone — two  carefully-constructed  cairns  were  found, 
but  no  record  in  them  ;  beyond  this,  no  farther  signs  of  the 
missing  navigators  were  found — nothing  whatever  that  could 
indicate  a  retreating  party.  That  these  cairns  were  placed 
to  attract  attention,  appears  certain  ;  the  most  conspicuous 
points  have  been  chosen  for  them  ;  they  are  well  and  care 
fully  built,  evidently  not  the  mere  work  of  an  idle  hour. 

Failing  Penny,  and  his  intelligence,  I  contented  myself 
with  visiting  the  neighbourhood  of  Assistance  Harbour,  and 
with  observing  the  various  phenomena  connected  with  the 
dissolution  of  the  winter  ice  and  snow  upon  the  land;  and, 
of  these,  none  was  more  interesting  than  the  breaking  out  of 
the  ravines,  which,  having  filled  with  snow  during  the  winter, 
had  formed,  during  the  previous  fortnight,  into  large  lakes  of 
water,  sometimes  of  acres  in  extent ;  and  then,  in  one  mo 
ment,  the  barriers  which  had  pent  up  the  ravines  gave  way, 
and,  with  irresistible  force,  the  waters  rushed  over  every  ob 
stacle  to  the  sea.  Three  large  ravines  broke  open  whilst  I 
was  in  Assistance  Harbour,  and  the  thundering  sound  of  the 
ice,  water,  and  shingle,  which  swept  down,  and  soon  cut  a 
broad  channel  for  many  yards  through  the  floe  in  the  bay, 
was  a  cheering  tune  to  the  gallant  fellows  who  were  looking 
forward  to  being  released  from  their  winter  imprisonment. 


ASSISTANCE  HARBOUR.  177 

Within  twenty-four  hours  the  body  of  water  in  these  ravines 
would  release  itself,  and  an  almost  dry  water-course  be  left. 
Nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  river  seemed  to  exist  in  this  island 
— rather  a  remarkable  fact,  considering  its  size,  and  the  im 
mense  quantity  of  snow  annually  thawed  in  its  interior  val 
leys  and  plains. 

A  beautiful  lake  existed  about  two  miles  inland  ;  and, 
having  been  discovered  by  one  of  Captain  Penny's  people  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Trafalgar,  was  very  appro 
priately  called  Trafalgar  Lake  ;  in  it  a  small  species  of  trout 
had  been  caught  occasionally  throughout  the  winter;  and  if 
the  ice  broke  up  early,  a  good  haul  of  fish  was  anticipated 
from  the  seine-nets  :  on  elevated  land  around  the  lake,  sor 
rel  and  scurvy-grass  grew  in  abundance.  I  need  hardly  say 
we  eat  of  it  voraciously,  for  the  appetite  delighted  in  any 
thing  like  vegetable  food. 

Occasionally  eider  and  pin-tailed  duck  were  shot,  as  well 
as  a  few  brent-geese,  but  these  birds  appeared  remarkably 
shy  and  wary,  although  evidently  here  to  breed. 

During  the  first  week  of  my  stay  in  Assistance  Harbour, 
immense  flights  of  wild  fowl  were  to  be  seen  amongst  the 
loose  ice  in  Barrow's  Strait;  but  when  the  pack  had  dis 
persed,  and  left  nothing  but  an  open  sea,  the  birds  appeared 
to  have  gone  elsewhere  for  food.  Indeed,  I  always  observed 
that  at  the  edge  of  ice  more  birds  were  invariably  to  be 
found  in  the  Arctic  regions,  than  in  large  or  open  water, — 
a  rule  equally  applicable  to  the  whale,  seal,  and  bear,  all 
of  which  are  to  be  found  at  the  floe-edge,  or  in  loosely- 
packed  ice. 

A  gale  of  wind  from  the  southward  occurred,  and  I  was 
extremely  anxious  to  see  whether  it  would  bring  over  the  ice 
from  the  opposite  shore,  as  the  croakers  in  Assistance  Har 
bour,  unable  to  deny  the  existence  of  water  along  the  ribrth 

8* 


178  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

shore  of  Barrow's  Strait,  consoled  themselves  by  declaring 
that  the  floe  had  merely  formed  itself  into  pack,  and  was  now 
lying  along  the  coast  of  North  Somerset,  ready  at  an  hour's 
•warning  to  spread  itself  over  the  waters.  The  southerly 
gale,  however,  piped  cheerily.  A  heavy  swell  and  surf — 
Oh  !  most  pleasant  sound  ! — beat  upon  the  fixed  ice  of  Assist 
ance  Harbour;  yet  no  pack  came,  nor  floe-pieces  either,  and 
thus  was  placed  beyond  all  doubt  the  fact  that,  at  any  rate, 
as  far  west  as  Griffith's  Island,  Barrow's  Strait  was  clear  of 
ice.  In  an  angle  formed  between  Leopold  Island  and  North 
Somerset,  there  was  evidently  a  pack  ;  for  an  ice-blink,  which 
moved  daily  about  in  that  direction,  showed  that  the  mass 
was  acted  upon  by  the  winds  ;  and  at  last  the  southerly  wind 
drove  it  up  into  Wellington  Channel.  To  be  condemned  to 
inactivity,  with  such  a  body  of  water  close  at  hand,  was  pain 
ful  to  all  but  those  whose  age  and  prudence  seemed  to  justify 
in  congratulating  themselves  on  being  yet  frozen  in  ;  and  try 
ing  as  had  been  many  disappointments  we  experienced  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  there  was  none  that  pained  us  more  than  the 
ill  luck  which  had  consigned  our  squadron,  and  its  180  men, 
to  inactivity,  in  an  icy  prison  under  Griffith's  Island,  whilst 
so  much  might  have  been  done  during  the  thirty  days  that 
the  waters  of  Barrow's  Strait,  and  God  only  knows  how 
much  more  beside,  were  clear  from  ice  in  every  shape,  and 
seeming  to  beckon  us  on  to  the  north-westward. 

It  was  now  we  felt  the  full  evil  result  of  our  winter 
quarters.  Boats  could  not  be  despatched,  I  suppose,  because 
the  ships  might  at  any  time  in  July  have  been  swept  by 
the  ice  whither  it  pleased,  and  the  junction  of  boats  and  ships 
rendered  uncertain.  Future  expeditions  will,  however,  hit 
this  nail  on  the  head,  and  three  distinct  periods  for  Arctic 
exploration  will  be  found  to  exist,  viz. : — The  spring,  from 
Aprtt  to  June  25th.  for  foot  journeys;  from  June  25th  to 


BARROW-S  STRAIT  CLEAR   OF  ICE.  179 

the  first  week  in  August,  for  boat  expeditions ;  and  then  six 
weeks  (for  steam  vessels)  of  navigable  season. 

Unable  to  remain  with  satisfaction  away  from  our  squad 
ron,  to  be  daily  tantalized  with  looking  at  a  sea  which 
might  as  well  not  have  existed  for  us,  we  returned  to  the 
"  Pioneer,"  calling  the  attention  of  the  officers  of  Penny's 
squadron  to  the  possibility  of  a  vessel  from  England,  sent  to 
communicate  with  the  squadrons,  actually  running  past  us 
all,  and  reaching  Melville  Island,  mayhap,  without  detecting 
our  winter  quarters  ;  an  opinion  in  which  all  seemed  to  con 
cur  ;  and  a  large  cairn  was  therefore  afterwards  erected  upon 
the  low  land,  in  such  a  position  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
a  craft  bound  westward. 

On  our  return  to  the  Naval  squadron,  we  found  them  still 
seven  miles  from  the  water  to  the  southward  from  Griffith's 
Island.  Towards  the  westward,  on  the  25th  of  July,  all  was 
water,  and  a  water  sky.  About  Somerville  Island,  and  Brown 
Island,  a  patch  of  fixed  ice,  similar  to  that  we  were  in,  con 
nected  itself  with  the  Cornwallis  Island  shore  ;  but  between 
that  and  us  the  water  was  fast  making ;  indeed,  it  every  day 
became  apparent  that  we  should  be  released  from  the  north 
ward,  and  not  from  the  southward.  One  officer  saw  Lowther 
Island  in  a  sea  of  water  ;  and  thus  early,  if  not  earlier,  I  had 
the  firmest  conviction  on  my  mind  that  a  ship  might  have 
been  carried  in  a  lead  of  water,  very  similar  to  that  Parry 
found  in  1829,  into  Winter  Harbour,  Melville  Island ;  or, 
what,  in  view  of  our  object,  would  have  been  more  desirable, 
up  to  the  north-west,  by  Byam  Martin  Channel. 

Griffith's  Island  had,  by  July  25th,  put  on  its  gayest  sum 
mer  aspect — the  ravines  had  emptied  themselves — the  snow 
had  disappeared  from  the  slopes — a  uniform  dull  brown 
spread  from  one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other — on  its  shel 
tered  terraces,  poppies,  saxifrage,  and  sorrel  in  full  flower, 


180  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

intermingled  with  lichens  and  mosses  of  every  hue  and  de 
scription  ;  and  we,  poor  mortals,  congratulated  ourselves  upon 
verdure,  which  was  only  charming  by  comparison.  The  great 
body  of  melted  snow  that  had  been  on  top  of  the  floe,  had 
now  nearly  all  escaped  through  it  in  numerous  fissures  and 
holes,  and  they  were  rapidly  connecting  themselves  one  with 
the  other.  Canals,  which  had  been  formed  in  the  floe,  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  the  squadron  to  get  out,  should  the  water 
make  exactly  in  the  same  way  it  did  last  year,  now  spread 
snake-like  over  the  floe,  and  the  waters  of  Barrow's  Strait 
had  approached  to  within  a  distance  of  four  miles.  Thus 
closed  the  month  of  July,  with  the  additional  disappointing 
intelligence,  that  Penny,  who  returned  to  Assistance  Harbour 
on  the  25th,  had  not  been  able,  owing  to  the  constant  preva 
lence  of  contrary  winds  setting  in  from  the  N.  W.,  and  his 
want  of  provisions,  to  make  much  progress  in  Wellington 
Channel.  Indeed,  he  had,  from  all  accounts,  found  his  boat 
but  ill-adapted  to  contend  with  the  strong  breezes,  heavy 
sea,  and  rapid  tides  into  which  he  had  launched  between  the 
islands  north  of  Cornwallis  Island,  and  never  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  desirable  offing  ;  the  islands,  however,  were  tho 
roughly  searched  for  traces;  a  small  piece  of  fresh  English 
elm  was  found  on  one  of  them,  which  Penny  believed  to  have 
been  thrown  overboard  from  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror  ;" 
also  a  bit  of  charred  pine,  which  Sir  John  Richardson  believes 
to  have  been  burnt  by  a  party  belonging  to  the  same  ships. 
But  the  most  important  result  of  Penny's  efforts  was  the 
verification  of  the  existence  of  a  great  body  of  open  water, 
north-west,  and  beyond  the  barrier  of  ice  which  still  existed 
in  Wellington  Channel. 

I  will  not  bore  the  reader  with  some  days  of  hard  labour, 
in  which  we  cut  to  the  southward  into  the  ice,  whilst  the 
water  was  trying  hard  to  get  to  us  from  the  north ;  it  even- 


STEAMING  FOR  ASSISTANCE  HARBOUR.  181 

tually  caught  us,  and  (Saturday,  August  8th,)  we  were  all 
afloat  in  open  water,  with  a  barrier  of  ice  still  southward 
towards  Barroiv's  Strait.  The  "  Intrepid"  had  been  sent 
early  in  the  week  to  look  round  the  north  end  of  Griffith's 
Island,  and  reported  a  narrow  neck  of  ice  from  the  N.  W. 
blufls  towards  Somerville  Island.  Eastward,  and  not  west 
ward,  was,  however,  to  be  our  course,  and  we  therefore  re 
mained  where  we  were.  On  the  9th  and  10th,  a  general 
disruption  of  the  little  remaining  ice  took  place  :  we  made 
gentle  and  very  cautious  moves  towards  Barrow's  Strait ; 
and,  at  last,  on  August  llth,  the  ice,  as  if  heartily  tired  of 
us,  shot  us  out  into  Barrow's  Strait,  by  turning  itself  fairly 
round  on  a  pivot.  We  were  at  sea  because  we  could  not 
help  it,  and  the  navigable  season  was  proclaimed  to  have 
commenced. 

Taking,  like  another  Sinbad,  our  "  Resolute"  old  burden 
behind  us,  the  "  Pioneer"  steamed  away  for  Assistance  Har 
bour,  from  whence,  as  we  had  been  given  to  understand  some 
days  previously,  Jones's  Sound  was  to  be  our  destination  ;  a 
plan  to  which  I  the  more  gladly  submitted,  as  I  felt  confident, 
from  all  I  had  heard  and  seen  of  its  geography  or  of  that  of 
the  neighbouring  land,  that  it  would  be  found  to  connect 
itself  with  Penny's  North  Water :  once  in  it  we  felt  failure 
of  our  object  to  be  impossible  ;  we  had  still  three  years'  pro 
visions,  and  nearly  four  years  of  many  things.  One  man  had 
died,  perhaps  half-a-dozen  more  were  invalids,  but  the  rest 
were  strong  and  hearty  :  to  be  sure,  we  all  lacked  much  of 
that  sanguineness  wrhieh  had  animated  us  hitherto.  Repeated 
disappointment,  long  journeys  in  the  wrong  direction  (as  it 
had  proved),  over  regions  which  had,  of  course,  shown  no 
trace  of  those  we  had  hoped  to  rescue — had  all  combined  to 
damp  our  feelings. 

The  morning  fog  broke,  and  a  day,  beautiful,  serene,  and 


182  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

sunny,  welcomed  us  into  Assistance  Harbour,  which  we 
found  had  just  cleared  out  of  ice  ;  and  the  "  Lady  Franklin," 
"Sophia,"  and  "Felix,"  with  anchors  down,  rode  all  ready 
for  sea.  As  we  towed  the  "  Resolute"  up  to  her  anchorage, 
Captain  Penny  pulled  past  in  his  gig,  evidently  going  to 
make  an  official  visit  to  our  leader.  Directly  after  the 
"Pioneer"  was  secured,  I  went  on  board  the  "Resolute,"  to 
hear  the  news,  her  first  lieutenant  having  been  in  Assistance 
Harbour  (Captain  Penny's  quarters)  up  to  the  moment  of 
our  arrival.  I  then  learned  that  Penny  was  going  to  volun 
teer  to  proceed  up  Wellington  Channel,  if  it  cleared  out,  in 
one  of  our  steamers ;  and  my  gallant  friend,  the  first  lieuten 
ant,  spoke  strongly  upon  the  necessity  of  still  trying  to  reach 
the  North  Water  by  the  said  route,  whilst  I  maintained  that, 
until  we  had  visited  Jones's  Sound,  it  was  impossible  to  say 
whether  it  would  not  be  found  an  easier  road  into  the  open 
sea  seen  by  Captain  Penny  than  Wellington  Channel  ap 
peared  to  be.  Captain  Penny  soon  joined  us,  and  there,  as 
well  as  afterwards  on  board  the  "  Lady  Franklin,"  I  heard 
of  his  proposal  above  alluded  to,  which  had  been  declined. 
Failing  in  his  offer  of  cooperation,  which  was  for  one  reason 
not  to  be  wondered  at, — insomuch  that  our  large  and  efficient 
squadron  needed  no  assistance  either  in  men  or  material  to 
do  the  work  alone, — Captain  Penny  had  decided  on  returning 
home,  believing  that  Franklin  was  so  far  to  the  N.  W.  as  to 
be  beyond  his  reach,  and  also  looking  to  the  tenor  of  his 
instructions,  which  strictly  enjoined  him  to  return  to  England 

in  1852. 

*  *  "   *  *  *  * 

Next  morning,  by  four  o'clock,  we  were  all  bound  to  the 
eastward.  A  few  amongst  those  of  our  squadron  still  hoped 
by  Jones's  Sound  to  reach  that  sea  of  whose  existence,  at  any 
rate,  we  had  no  longer  any  doubt,  whatever  might  be  its 


DEPARTURE  FOR  JONES'S  SOUND.  183 

difficulty  of  access.  Off  Cape  Hotham  we  found  a  loose 
pack :  it  extended  about  half  way  across  Wellington  Chan 
nel,  and  then  a  clear  sea  spread  itself  eastward  and  northward 
along  the  shores  off  North  Devon  to  Cape  Bowden.  From 
a  strong  ice-blink  up  Wellington  Channel  there  was  reason 
to  think  the  barrier*  still  athwart  it ;  we  did  not,  however, 
go  to  ascertain  whether  it  was  so,  but.  favoured  by  a  fair 
wind,  steamed,  sailed,  and  towed  the  "Resolute,"  as  fast  as 
possible  past  Beechey  Island.  The  form  of  sending  letters 
to  England  had  been  duly  enacted,  but  few  were  in  a  humour 
to  write;  the  news  would  be  unsatisfactory,  and,  unless 
Jones's  Sound  was  an  open  sea,  and  we  could  not  therefore 
help  entering  it,  there  was  a  moral  certainty  of  all  being  in 
England  within  a  short  time  of  one  another. 

And  so  it  proved.  Leaving  the  "Assistance"  and  "Reso 
lute"  to  join  us  off  Cape  Dudley  Digges,  the  steamers  pro 
ceeded,  under  Captain  Austin,  with  three  months'  provisions, 
on  the  night  of  the  14th  of  August,  for  Jones's  Sound. 

Next  morning  brought  the  steamers  close  in  with  the 
shore  between  Capes  Horsburgh  and  Osborn,  along  which  we 
steered  towards  Jones's  Sound.  Glacier  and  iceberg  again 
abounded,  and  the  comparatively  tame  scenery  of  Barrow's 
Strait  was  changed  for  bold  and  picturesque  mountains  and 


*  Had  we  but  happily  known  at  that  time  of  the  perfect  de 
scription  of  the  Wellington  Channel  ice  subsequent  to  our  passage 
across  in  1850,  as  shown  by  the  tract  of  the  American  Expedition 
and  Lieutenant  De  Haven's  admirable  report,  we  should  not  then 
have  fallen  into  the  error  of  believing  barriers  of  ice  to  be  perma 
nent  in  deep-water  channels,  a  fallacy  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  has 
exploded  with  many  other  misconceptions  as  to  the  fixed  nature 
of  ice,  and  the  constant  accumulation  of  it  in  Polar  regions. 


184  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

headlands.  As  the  evening  of  the  15th  drew  in,  Jones's 
Sound  gradually  opened  itself  in  the  Coburg  Bay  of  the 
charts,  and,  in  spite  of  a  strong  head-wind,  we  drew  up  to 
and  commenced  working  up  it  under  sail  and  steam.  During 
the  night,  Cape  Leopold  showed  to  be  an  island,  dividing  the 
sound  into  two  entrances ;  and  the  exhilarating  effect  of  a 
fine  broad  expanse  of  water  leading  to  the  westward,  up 
which  we  were  thrashing  under  a  press  of  canvas,  was  only 
marred  by  the  unpleasant  fact  that  we  had  parted  from  the 
ships  containing  our  main  stock  of  provisions,  without  the 
means  of  following  up  any  traces,  should  we  be  happy 
enough  to  discover  them,  of  the  poor  missing  expedition. 

Saturday,  August  IGth,  1851. — The  sound  is  evidently 
narrowest  about  the  entrance ;  from  a  point  to  the  N.  W.  of 
us  it  evidently  increases  in  width ;  loose  patches  of  ice  are 
occasionally  met  with,  and  the  tides  seem  somewhat  strong, 
judging  by  the  set  of  the  vessel.  The  scenery  is  magnificent, 
especially  on  the  south  shore,  where  some  ten  miles  in  the 
interior  a  huge  dome  of  pure  white  snow  envelopes  land  some 
3000  or  4000  feet  high,  which  Captain  Austin  has  named 
the  Trenter  Mountains,  in  compliment  to  the  family  of  Sir 
John  Barrow,  (that  being  the  maiden  name  of  the  Dowager 
Lady  Barrow.)  From  this  range  long  winding  glaciers  pour 
down  the  valleys,  and  project,  through  the  ravines,  into  the 
deep-blue  waters  of  this  magnificent  strait.  Northward  of 
us  the  land  is  peculiar,  lofty  table-land,  having  here  and 
there  a  sudden  dip,  or  thrown  up  in  a  semi-peak.  The 
draught  of  the  wind  has  blown  constantly  down  the  strait. 
Such  are  my  rough  notes  made  during  the  day,  as  the 
"Pioneer"  and  ':  Intrepid"  worked  to  the  westward;  but  as 
evening  drew  on,  the  increasing  smoothness  of  the  water, 
and  a  hard  icy  blink  to  the  west,  prepared  us  for  a  report 


STOPPED  BY  ICE-FIELDS.  185 

which  came  from  the  crow's  nest  about  midnight,  that  there 
was  very  much  ice  to  the  windward  of  us. 

Next  day,  17th.  after  a  fog  which  caused  some  delay  had 
cleared  off,  the  disagreeable  truth  revealed  itself:  from  a 
little  beyond  a  conical-shaped  island  on  the  north  shore,  the 
sound  was  still  barred  with  floes,  although  at  this  point  it 
increased  at  least  twelve  miles  more  in  breadth.  Going  up 
to  the  floe-edge,  the  steamers  crossed  to  the  S.  W.,  following 
the  ice  carefully  along  until  it  impinged  upon  the  southern 
shore.  The  night  was  beautifully  serene  and  clear;  and,  as 
if  to  add  to  our  regret^  four  points  and  a  half  of  the  compass, 
or  54°  of  bearing  to  the  westward,  showed  no  symptom  of 
land.  The  northern  side  of  the  sound  trended  away  to  the 
west,  preserving  its  lofty  and  marked  character ;  whilst  on 
the  south  the  land  ended  abruptly  some  fifteen  miles  farther 
on,  and  then,  beyond  a  small  break,  one  of  those  wedge- 
shaped  hills  peculiar  to  the  limestone  lands  of  Barrow's 
Strait  showed  itself  at  a  great  distance;  and  the  natural  sug 
gestion  to  my  own  mind  was,  that  the  opening  between  the 
said  wedge-shaped  hill  and  the  land  on  our  southern  hand 
would  have  been  found  to  connect  itself  with  the  deep  fiords 
running  to  the  northward  from  Croker  Bay,  in  Lancaster 
Sound ;  and  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  direction  of  Jones's 
Sound,  whose  frozen  surface  forbade  us  to  advance  with  our 
vessels,  I  was,  from  what  I  saw,  fully  willing  to  believe  in 
the  report  of  my  ice  quarter-master,  Robert  Moore,  a  clever, 
observant  seaman,  as  the  annexed  report  will  show : — 

"  SIR, 

*'  It  was  in  1848  that  I  was  with  Captain  Lee  in  the 
'Prince  of  Wales,'  when  we  ran  up  Jones's  Sound.  The 
wind  was  from  the  S.  S.  E.  compass  (E.  N.  E.  true],  thick 
weather,  with  a  strong  breeze.  We  steered  up  Jones's 


186  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Sojind,  N.  E.  by  compass    (westwardly  true),  for  fourteen 
hours,  when,  seeing  some  ice  aground,  we  hauled  to. 

';  The  next  day,  being  fine  weather,  we  proceeded  farther 
up,  and  seeing  no  ice  or  fish  (whales),  a  boat  was  sent  on 
shore.  She,  returning,  reported  not  having  seen  any  thing 
but  very  high  land  and  deep  water  close  to  rocks  on  the  south 
shore. 

"  We  tacked  ship,  and  stood  to  the  N.  E.  compass  (N. 
W.  true) ;  saw  some  ice  aground  on  a  sand-bank,  with  only 
six  feet  water  on  it  at  low  water,  but  standing  on  the  N.  E. 
compass  ^N.  W.  true),  found  deep  water  from  five  to  eight 
miles  across  from  the  sand  to  the  north  shore.  When  past 
the  sand,  open  water  as  far  as  we  could  see  from  the  mast 
head,  and  extending  from  about  N.  JE.  to  N.  N.  W.  compass 
(N.  W.  to  W.  S.  W.  true).  We  then  returned,  being  fine 
and  clear,  and  could  not  see  what  we  were  in  search  of 
(whales). 

"  Leaving  the  north  land,  a  long,  low  point,  running  up  to 
a  table-top  mountain,  we  came  across  to  the  south  side,  which 
was  bold  land  right  out  of  the  sound. 

"  We  saw  the  Pinnacle  Rocks  at  the  end  of  that  sound 
(Princess  Charlotte's  Monument]  ;  and  this  and  the  low  land 
between  that  sound  and  Lancaster  Sound,  as  we  were  running 
to  the  S.  E.,  makes  me  confident  is  the  same  place  which  wre 
were  up  in  the  'Pioneer.' 

"The  distance  we  ran  up  the  sound  in  the  '  Prince  of 
Wales,'  I  think,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  was  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  &c. 

"  (Signed)          ROBERT  MOORE, 
"  Ice  quarter-master,  H.  M.  S.  '  Pioneer.' 

"To  Lieut.  Sherard  Osborn." 

The  italics   in   the  abov,e  letter  serve  to  show  how  cor- 


ERECTION  OF  A   CAIRN.  187 

rectly  these  observations  of  my  quarter-master  agreed  with 
the  sound  we  were  up  ;  and  taking  this,  together  with  the 
description  of  the  land  seen  by  Captain  Stewart  and  Dr. 
Sutherland,  during  their  late  journey  up  the  eastern  side  of 
Wellington  Channel,  I  believe  that  a  very  narrow  inter 
vening  belt  of  low  land  divides  Jones's  Sound  from  Baring 
Bay,  in  Wellington  Channel,  and  that,  turning  to  the  north 
ward,  this  sound  eventually  opens  into  the  same  great 
Polar  Sea  which  washes  the  northern  shores  of  the  Parry 
group. 

Unable  to  advance,  we  returned,  upon  our  wake,  to  the 
conical  island  on  the  north  side  of  the  sound  ;  and  a  boat, 
with  two  officers  in  it,  was  sent  to  erect  a  cairn.  They  re 
turned  next  morning,  having  found,  what  interested  me  very 
much,  numerous  Esquimaux  traces,  though  of  very  ancient 
date,  and  shot  several  birds — a  seasonable  increase  to  our 
stock  for  table-consumption.  One  of  the  sportsmen  assured  me 
that,  in  spite  of  the  increased  number  of  glaciers  around  us, 
and  other  appearances  of  a  more  severe  climate  than  we  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  seeing  in  Barrow's  Strait,  he  was  of 
opinion  that  there  was  much  more  vegetation  in  our  neigh 
bourhood  than  in  the  more  southern  latitude  of  Cornwallis 
Island.  The  specimens  of  plants  brought  off  in  the  boat, 
such  as  poppies,  saxifrage,  and  moss,  were  all  finer  than  we 
had  seen  elsewhere  ;  and  reindeer  horns,  near  the  Esquimaux 
ruins,  showed  that  these  animals  were  to  be  found. 

The  island  was  a  mass  of  gray-coloured  granite,  with 
some  dark  masses  of  ferruginous-coloured  rock  intermixed, 
the  whole  much  broken  and  rent  by  the  agency  of  frost  and 
water. 

Monday,  the  18th  of  August,  we  proceeded  along  the 
northern  shore,  towards  another  entrance  which  had  shown 
itself  on  the  north  side  of  Leopold  Island, — the  Jones's  Sound 


188  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

of  the  old  charts, — which  we  now  proved  not  to  have  been 
blocked  up  by  either  land  or  glaciers. 

The  land  about  Cape  Hardwicke  was  little  else,  in  my 
opinion,  than  a  group  of  islands, — an  impression  in  which  I 
became  the  more  confirmed  when  the  ice  obliged  us  to  strike 
off  directly  to  the  eastward  ;  and  Cape  Clarence  stood  out 
bold  and  clear,  with  a  midnight  sun  behind  it :  and  the  light 
streamed  through  the  different  ice-choked  channels  between 
Capes  Hardwicke  and  Clarence,  throwing  up  the  land,  where 
there  was  land,  in  strong  and  dark  relief. 

Beyond  Cape  Clarence  I  saw  no  symptom  of  land,  nor  did 
any  one  else  either.  It  is  said  to  recede ;  very  possibly  it 
may  ;  but  as  neither  we,  nor  the  "  Resolute"  and  "  Assist 
ance,"  (who  all  reached  a  higher  latitude  than  any  discovery- 
ships  have  been  since  Baffin's  memorable  voyage,)  ever  saw 
land  north  of  Cape  Clarence,  I  trust,  for  the  sake  of  geography, 
that  the  beautifully-indented  line  which  now  joins  the  land 
about  Smith's  Sound  to  that  of  Clarence  Head,  in  our  charts, 
may  be  altered  into  a  dotted  one,  as  denoting  that  the  said 
coast  exists  rather  in  the  imagination  of  channel-closing 
voyagers  than  actually  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Baffin's 
Bay. 

A  multitude  of  grounded  icebergs  showed  a  shoal,  which 
appears  to  bar  the  northern  entrance  to  Jones's  Sound  ;  and, 
during  the  night,  a  sudden  gale  from  the  north,  together  with 
high  water  in  the  tides,  set  them  all  floating  and  dancing 
around  us  in  a  very  exciting  style.  Edging  constantly  along 
large  floe-pieces,  we  wrere  eventually  carried  next  day  into 
the  packed  ice,  through  which  our  way  had  to  be  found  under 
double-reefed  sails,  the  two  pretty  screw-schooners  thrashing 
away  in  gallant  style,  until  a  dead  calm  again  left  us  to  steam 
our  best;  indeed,  all  night  of  the  19th  was  a  constant  heavy 
tussle  with  a  pack,  in  whiqh  the  old  floe-pieces  were  being 


EASTERN  SIDE  OF  BAFFIN1  S  BAY.  189 

glued  together  by  young  ice,  varying  from  two  to  five  inches 
in  thickness;  patches  of  water,  perhaps  each  an  acre  in 
extent,  were  to  be  seen  from  the  crow's  nest,  and  from 
one  to  the  other  of  these  we  had  to  work  our  way.  By- 
and-by  the  Gary  Isles  showed  themselves  to  the  northward, 
and  then  the  flat-topped  land  between  Cape  York  and  Dudley 
Digges. 

Our  last  hope  of  doing  any  service  this  season  lay  in  the 
expectation  that  open  water  would  be  found  along  the  north 
east  side  of  Baffin's  Bay  ;  but  this  expectation  was  damped 
by  the  disagreeable  knowledge  that  our  provisions  on  board 
the  steamers  were  too  scanty  to  allow  us  to  follow  up  any 
opening  we  should  have  found. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  28th  of  August,  a  strong  water- 
sky  and  heavy  bank  showed  the  sea  to  be  close  at  hand  to 
the  south,  as  well  as  a  strong  breeze  behind  it.  We  rattled 
on  for  Wolstenholme  Island,  reached  under  its  lee  by  the 
evening,  and  edged  away  to  the  north,  quickly  opening  out 
Cape  Stair,  and  finding  it  to  be  an  island,  as  the  Cape  York 
Esquimaux,  on  board  the  "Assistance,"  had  led  us  to  believe. 
Passing  some  striking-looking  land,  which,  although  like  that 
of  the  more  southern  parts  of  Greenland,  was  bold  and  pre 
cipitous,  intersected  with  deep  valleys,  yet  comparatively 
free  from  glaciers,  we  saw  the  Booth  Sound  of  Sir  John 
Ross,  and  shortly  afterwards  sighted  what  proved  afterwards 
to  be  the  southern  bluff  of  Whale  Sound.  We  could  not 
approach  it,  however,  and,  choosing  an  iceberg,  we  anchored 
our  steamers  to  await  an  opening. 

On  Thursday,  the  21st  of  August,  I  started  in  a  boat  with 
Mr.  MacDougal,  to  see  if  we  could  get  as  far  as  Whale 
Sound.  The  bay-ice,  in  which  we  could  neither  pull  nor 
sail,  whilst  it  was  too  thin  to  stand  upon,  or  track  the  boat 
through,  materially  checked  our  progress.  By  the  afternoon 


190  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

we  reached  a  close  pack-edge,  which  defied  farther  progress ; 
but,  on  landing,  we  found  ourselves  to  be  at  the  entrance  of 
a  magnificent  inlet,  still  filled  with  ice,  which  extended  to  the 
eastward  for  some  fifteen  miles,  having  in  its  centre  a  pecu 
liarly-shaped  rock,  which  the  seamen  immediately  christened 
"  Prince  Albert's  Hat,"  from  its  resemblance  to  a  marine's 
shako.  The  numerous  traces  here  of  Esquimaux  were  per 
fectly  startling  ;  their  tent-places,  winter  abodes,  caches,  and 
graves,  covered  every  prominent  point  about  us.  Of  what 
date  they  were,  it  was  impossible,  as  1  have  elsewhere  said, 
to  form  a  correct  idea.  The  enamel  was  still  perfect  on  the 
bones  of  the  seals  which  strewed  the  rocks,  the  flesh  of  which 
had  been  used  for  food.  On  opening  one  of  the  graves,  I 
found  the  skeleton  of  an  old  man,  with  a  good  deal  of  the 
cartilage  adhering  to  the  bones,  and  in  the  skull  there  was 
still  symptoms  of  decaying  flesh  ;  nothing,  however,  was  seen 
to  denote  a  recent  visit  of  these  interesting  denizens  of  the 
north.  Each  cache,  or  rather,  circle  of  stones,  had  a  flat  slab 
for  a  cover,  with  a  cairn  near  it,  or  else  an  upright  mass  of 
stone,  to  denote  its  position  ;  and  some  of  the  graves  were 
constructed  with  a  degree  of  care  and  labour  worthy  of  a 
more  civilized  people  :  several  had  huge  slabs  of  stone  on  the 
top,  which  it  must  have  required  a  great  many  men  to  lift, 
and  some  ingenuity  to  secure. 

Scurvy-grass  in  great  abundance,  as  well  as  another  an 
tiscorbutic  plant,  bearing  a  small  white  flower,  was  found 
wherever  we  landed  ;  and  I  likewise  observed  London-pride, 
poppies,  sorrel,  dwarf  willow,  crow-feet  grass,  saxifrage,  and 
tripe-de-roche,  besides  plenty  of  turf,  which,  with  very  little 
trouble,  would  have  served  for  fuel, — and  this  in  latitude 
76°  52'  N.  Large  flocks  of  geese  and  ducks  were  flying 
about;  the  great  northern  diver  passed  overhead,  and  utten-d 
its  shrill  warning  cry  to  its  mate,  and  loons,  dovekies.  nn-l 


VISIT  FJR  OM  ESQ  U1MA  UX.  191 

plalaropes,  in  small  numbers,  gave  occasional  exercise  for 
our  guns. 

The  coast  was  all  of  granitic  formation  :  and  if  one  might 
judge  from  the  specimens  of  iron  pyrites  and  copper  ore 
found  here  and  there,  the  existence  of  minerals  in  large  quan 
tities,  as  is  the  case  about  Uppernavik,  may  be  taken  for 
granted. 

The  22d,  23d,  24th,  and  25th  of  August  passed  without  a 
favourable  change  taking  place ;  indeed,  by  this  time  our 
retreat,  as  well  as  advance,  had  been  barred  by  the  pack. 
Pressed  up  from  Baffin's  Bay  by  the  southerly  gales  of  this 
season  of  the  year,  the  broken  floes  seemed  to  have  been 
seeking  an  outlet  by  the  north-west.  The  winter  wras  fast 
setting  in,  temperature  falling  thus  early,  and  the  birds  every 
day  more  scarce. 

About  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  August,  I 
was  aroused  and  told  that  Esquimaux  were  coming  off  on 
dog-sledges.  All  hands  turned  out  voluntarily  to  witness  the 
arrival  of  our  visitors.  They  were  five  in  number,  each  man 
having  a  single  sledge.  As  they  approached,  they  uttered 
an  expression  very  like  Tima  !  or  rather  Timouh  !  accom 
panied  by  a  loud,  hoarse  laugh.  Some  of  our  crew  answered 
them,  and  then  they  appeared  delighted,  laughing  most  im 
moderately. 

The  sledges  were  entirely  constructed  of  bone,  and  were 
small,  neat-looking  vehicles  :  no  sledge  had  more  than  five 
dogs  ;  some  had  only  three.  The  dogs  were  fine-looking, 
wolfish  animals,  and  either  white  or  tan  colour.  The  well- 
fed  appearance  of  the  natives  astonished  us  all ;  without  being 
tall  (averaging  about  5  ft.  5  in.),  they  were  brawny-looking 
fellows,  deep-chested,  and  large-limbed,  with  Tartar  beards 
and  moustachios,  and  a  breadth  of  shoulder  which  denoted 
more  than  ordinary  strength.  Their  clothing  consisted  of  a 


192  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

dressed  seal-skin  frock,  with  a  hood  which  served  for  a  cap 
when  it  was  too  cold  to  trust  to  a  thick  head  of  jet-black  hair 
for  warmth.  A  pair  of  bear-skin  trowsers  reaching  to  the 
knee,  and  walrus-hide  boots,  completed  their  attire.  Know 
ing  how  perfectly  isolated  these  people  were  from  the  rest 
of  the  world, — indeed,  they  are  said  with  some  degree  of 
probability  to  have  believed  themselves  to  be  the  only  peo 
ple  in  the  world, — I  was  not  a  little  delighted  to  see  how 
well  necessity  had  taught  them  to  clothe  themselves  ;  and 
the  skill  of  the  women  was  apparent  in  the  sewing,  and  in 
one  case  tasteful  ornamental  work  of  their  habiliments. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  we  loaded  them  with  presents  : 
their  ecstasy  exceeded  all  bounds  when  each  was  presented 
with  a  boat-hook  staff,  a  piece  of  wood  some  twelve  feet  long. 
They  danced,  shouted,  and  laughed  again  with  astonishment 
at  possessing  such  a  prize.  Wood  was  evidently  with  them 
a  scarce  article  ;  they  had  it  not  even  to  construct  sledges 
with.  York,  the  interpreter,  had  before  told  us  they  had  no 
canoes  for  want  of  it ;  and  they  seemed  perfectly  incapable 
of  understanding  that  our  ships  and  masts  were  altogether 
made  of  wood.  The  intelligence  shown  by  these  people  was 
very  gratifying  ;  and  from  having  evidently  been  kindly 
treated  on  board  the  "  North  Star,"  during  her  sojourn  in 
this  neighbourhood,  they  were  confident  of  good  treatment, 
and  went  about  fearlessly.  On  seeing  a  gun,  they  laughed, 
and  said,  "  Pooh  !  pooh  !"  to  imitate  its  sound.  One  man 
danced,  and  was  evidently  anxious  to  repeat  some  nautical 
shuffling  of  the  feet  to  the  time  of  a  fiddle,  of  which  he  had 
agreeable  recollections,  whilst  another  described  how  we  slept 
in  hammocks.  After  some  time,  a  document  was  given  them, 
to  show  any  ship  they  might  visit  hereafter ;  and  they  were 
sent  away  in  high  spirits.  The  course  they  had  taken,  both 
coming  and  going,  proved  them  to  be  from  Wolstenholme 


GALE  IN  THE  PACK.  193 

Sound  ;  and,  as  well  as  we  could  understand,  they  had  lately 
been  to  the  northward,  looking  for  pousies  (seals),  and  no 
doubt  were  the  natives  whose  recent  traces  had  been  seen  by 
some  of  the  officers  near  Booth  Inlet,  who  had  likewise  ob 
served  the  remnants  of  some  old  oil-cask  staves,  which  once 
had  been  in  an  English  whaler. 

August  26th,  1851. — Beset  against  a  floe,  which  is  in  mo 
tion,  owing  to  the  pressure  of  bergs  upon  its  southern  face  ; 
and  as  it  slowly  coachwheels  (as  the  whalers  term  it)  round 
upon  an  iceberg  to  seaward  of  us,  we  employ  ourselves  heav 
ing  clear  of  the  danger.  A  gale- fast  rising,  and  things  look 
ing  very  ugly.  The  "  Intrepid,"  who  had  changed  her  berth 
from  the  "  inshore"  to  the  "  offshore"  side  of  the  "  Pioneer," 
through  some  accident  of  ice-anchors  slipping,  was  caught 
between  the  floe  and  the  iceberg,  and  in  a  minute  inextri 
cably,  as  far  as  human  power  was  concerned,  surrounded  with 
ice  ;  and  as  the  floe,  acted  upon  by  the  pressure  of  bergs  and 
ice  driving  before  the  gale,  forced  more  and  more  upon  the 
berg,  we  were  glad  to  see  the  vessel  rise  up  the  inclined 
plane  formed  by  the  tongue  of  the  iceberg  under  her  bottom. 
Had  she  not  done  so,  she  must  have  sunk.  Sending  a  por 
tion  of  our  crew  to  keep  launching  her  boats  ahead  during 
the  night,  we  watched  with  anxiety  the  fast-moving  floes  and 
icebergs  around  us.  A  wilder  scene  than  that  of  this  night 
and  the  next  morning  it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive. 
Our  forced  inactivity — for  escape  or  reciprocal  help  was  im 
possible — rendered  it  the  more  trying. 

Lieutenant  Cator  has  himself  told  the  trials  to  which  the 
"Intrepid's"  qualities  were  subjected  that  night  and  day; 
how  she  was  pushed  up  the  iceberg  high  and  dry ;  and  how 
the  bonnie  screw  came  down  again  right  and  tight.  We 
meanwhile  drifted  away,  cradled  in  floe-pieces,  and  perfectly 

9 


194  ARCTIC  JOURNAL 

helpless,  shaving  past  icebergs,  in  close  proximity,  but  safely, 
until  the  gale  as  suddenly  abated,  and  we  found  ourselves 
some  six  miles  north  of  the  "  Intrepid,"  and  off  the  Sound, 
which,  for  want  of  a  name,  we  will  call  "  Hat  Sound." 
Steaming  and  sailing  up  a  head  of  water  back  towards  our 
consort,  we  soon  saw  that  she  was  all  right  and  afloat  again, 
though  beset  in  the  pack.  We  therefore  took  advantage  of 
an  opening  in  the  ice  to  run  to  the  northward  alone.  About 
midnight,  the  Whale  Sound  of  Baffin  being  then  open  to  our 
view,  but  filled  with  broken  ice,  and  our  farther  progress  im 
peded  by  the  pack,  we  again  made  fast  at  this,  the  farthest 
northern  latitude  reached  by  any  of  our  squadron,  viz.,  77° 
north  latitude, 

Friday,  August  29^. — Finding  progress  in  this  direction 
hopeless,  we  rejoined  the  "Intrepid"  as  close  as  the  ice  would 
allow  us,  and  learnt  that  she  had  injured  her  rudder  and 
screw-framing.  It-  was  now  decided  to  rejoin  the  "  Reso 
lute"  and  "Assistance"  at  their  rendezvous  off  Cape  Dudley 
Digges  ;  and  as  the  winter  snow  was  fast  covering  the  land, 
and  pancake-ice  forming  on  the  sea,  there  was  little  time  to 
be  lost  in  doing  so. 

The  30th  and  31st,  the  "  Pioneer"  made  fruitless  attempts 
to  reach  the  "Intrepid."  The  leads  of  water  were  evidently 
separating  us  more  and  more :  she  was  working  in  for  Wol- 
stenholme  Sound,  whilst  we  were  obliged  to  edge  to  the 
westward. 

September  1st,  1851,  came  in  on  us.  From  the  crow's 
nest  one  interminable  barrier  of  ice  spread  itself  around  ; 
and  as  the  imprisonment  of  our  vessels  would  have  entailed 
starvation  upon  us,  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  push,  and  en 
deavour,  by  one  of  us  at  any  rate  reaching  supplies,  to  secure 
the  means  of  rescue  to  both. 


FORCING   THROUGH  THE  PACK,  195 

A  lucky  slackening  of  the  ice  encouraged  us  to  enter  the 
pack,  and  we  entered  it.  It  was  a  long  and  tough  struggle, 
sometimes  for  an  hour  not  making  a  ship's  length  of  head 
way,  then  bursting  into  a  crack  of  water,  which  seemed  an 
ocean  by  comparison.  Screwing  and  heaving,  my  gallant 
crew  working  like  Britons,  now  over  the  stern,  booming  off 
pieces  from  the  screw  as  she  went  astern  for  a  fresh  rush  at 
some  obstinate  bar;  now  over  the  bows,  coaxing  her  sharp 
stem  into  the  crack  which  had  to  be  wedged  open  until  the 
hull  could  pass ;  now  leaping  from  piece  to  piece  of  the 
broken  ice,  clearing  the  lines,  resetting  the  anchors,  then 
rushing  for  the  ladders,  as  the  vessel  cleared  the  obstacles, 
to  prevent  being  left  behind, — light-hearted,  obedient,  and 
zealous,  if  my  heartfelt  admiration  of  them  could  have 
lightened  their  labours,  I  should  have  been  glad  indeed. 
Late  in  the  evening,  the  "  Intrepid"  was  seen  working  inside 
of  Wolstenholme  Island  :  we  made  fast  to  a  lofty  iceberg,  to 
obtain  a  good  view,  for  the  most  promising  lead  of  water; 
and  the  experienced  eye  of  a  quarter-master,  Joseph  Organ, 
enabled  him  to  detect  the  glisten  of  open  water-on  the  ho 
rizon  to  the  westward.  For  it  we  accordingly  struck  through 
the  pack.  Never  were  screw  and  steam  more  taxed.  To 
stop  was  to  be  beset  for  the  winter,  and  be  starved  and 
drifted  Heaven  knows  where.  An  iron  stem  and  a  good 
engine  did  the  work, — I  will  not  bore  the  non-professional 
reader  how.  A  little  before  midnight  the  "  Resolute"  and 
"Assistance"  were  seen,  and  by  four  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  2d  September  we  were  alongside  of  them.  Shortly 
afterwards  our  amateurs  and  visitors  left  us,  and  the  three 
vessels  cruised  about,  waiting  for  the  "Intrepid,"  it  being 
generally  understood  that  when  she  rejoined  the  squadron 
we  were  to  return  to  England. 

We  learned  that  the  ships  had  been  in  open  water  as  high 


196  AZOTIC  JOURNAL. 

as  the  Gary  Islands :  they  had  seen  no  land  on  the  west  side,  north 
of  Cape  Clarence.  On  Gary  Islands  they  had  found  traces  of 
the  remote  visits  of  whalers,  and  had  shot  immense  numbers 
(about  700)  of  birds,  loons  especially.  On  one  occasion  they 
had  been  placed  in  trying  circumstances  by  a  gale  from  the 
southward  amongst  the  packed  ice,  the  extraordinary  disap 
pearance  of  which  to  the  northward,  was  only  to  be  accounted 
for  by  supposing  the  ice  of  Baffin's  Bay  to  have  been  blown 
through  Smith's  Sound  into  the  Polar  Sea,  a  small  gateway 
for  so  much  ice  to  escape  by.  In  my  opinion,  however,  the 
disappearance  of  the  ice,  which  a  fortnight  earlier  had  spread 
over  the  whole  sea  between  the  Arctic  Highlands  and  Jones's 
Sound,  under  the  influence  of  southerly  gales,  confirmed  me 
the  more  strongly  in  my  belief  that  the  north-west  portion 
of  Baffin's  Bay  is  open,  and  forms  no  cul-de-sac  there  any 
more  than  it  does  in  Jones's  Sound,  Lancaster  Sound,  or 
Pond's  Bay. 

From  Hudson's  Straits,  in  latitude  60°  N.,  to  Jones's 
Sound,  in  latitude  76°  N.,  a  distance  of  960  miles,  we  find 
on  the  western  hand  a  mass  of  islands,  of  every  conceivable 
shape  and  size,  with  long  and  tortuous  channels  intersecting 
the  land  in  every  direction ;  yet  vain  men,  anxious  to  put 
barriers  in  the  way  of  future  navigators,  draw  large  con- 
tfnents,  where  no  one  has  dared  to  penetrate  to  see  whether 
there  be  such  or  not,  and  block  up  natural  outlets  without 
cause  or  reason. 

I  will  now,  with  the  reader's  permission,  carry  him  back 
to  a  subject  that  here  and  there  has  been  cursorily  alluded  to 
throughout  these  pages — the  Esquimaux  traces  and  ruins, 
every  where  found  by  us,  and  the  extraordinary  chain  of 
evidence  which,  commencing  in  Melville  Island,  our  farthest 
west,  carries  us,  link  by  link,  to  the  isolated  inhabitants  of 
North  Greenland,  yclept  Arctic  Highlands. 


ESQUIMAUX  TRACES.  197 

Strange  and  ancient  signs  were  found  by  us  in  almost 
every  sheltered  nook  on  the  seaboard  of  this  sad  and  solitary 
land, — signs  indubitably  of  a  race  having  once  existed,  who 
have  either  decayed  away,  or  else,  more  probably,  migrated  to 
more  hospitable  portions  of  the  Arctic  zone.  That  all  these 
traces  were  those  of  the  houses,  caches,  hunting-posts,  and 
graves  of  the  Esquimaux,  or  Innuit,  there  could  be  on  our 
minds  no  doubt ;  and  looking  to  the  immense  extent  of  land 
over  which  this  extraordinary  race  of  fishermen  have  been, 
and  are  to  be  found,  well  might  Captain  Washington,  the 
talented  compiler  of  the  Esquimaux  vocabulary,  say,  that 
they  are  one  "of  the  most  widely-spread  nations  of  the 
globe." 

The  seat  of  this  race  (arguing  from  traditions  extant  du 
ring  Baron  Wrangell's  travels  in  Siberia)  might  be  placed  in 
the  north-east  extreme  of  Asia,  the  western  boundary  being 
ill  defined ;  for  on  the  dreary  banks  of  the  Lena  and  Indigirka, 
along  the  whole  extent  of  the  frozen  Tundra,  which  faces  the 
Polar  Sea,  and  in  the  distant  isles  of  New  Siberia,  rarely 
visited  by  even  the  bold  seekers  of  fossil  ivory,  the  same 
ruined  circles  of  stone,  betokening  the  former  abode  of  human 
beings,  the  same  whalebone  rafters,  the  same  stone  axes,  the 
same  implements  of  the  chase,  are  to  be  found  as  to  this  day 
are  used,  and  only  used,  by  the  Tchuktches  of  Behring's  Straits, 
the  Innuit  of  North  America,  or  the  Esquimaux  of  Hudson's 
Straits  and  Greenland, — a  people  identical  in  language  (of 
which  they  all  speak  different  dialects),  habits,  and  disposition. 

Supposing,  then,  that  from  the  east  of  Asia  these  people 
first  migrated  to  the  American  continent,  and  thence,  even 
tually  wandered  to  the  eastern  shores  of  Greenland,  it  became 
an  interesting  question  to  us,  how  the  lands  upon  our  northern 
hand,  in  our  passage  to  the  west  up  Barrow's  Strait,  should 
bear  such  numerous  marks  of  human  location,  whereas  upon 


198  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

the  southern  side  they  were  comparatively  scarce ;  and  how 
the  natives  residing  in  the  northern  portion  of  Baffin's  Bay 
should  have  been  ignorant  that  their  brethren  dwelt  in  great 
numbers  southward  of  the  glaciers  of  Melville  Bay. 

Some  amongst  us — and  I  was  of  this  number — objected 
to  the  theory  summarily  advanced,  that  at  a  remote  period 
these  northern  lands  had  been  peopled  from  the  south,  and 
that  the  population  had  perished  or  wasted  away  from  in 
creased  severity  of  climate  or  diminution  of  the  means  of 
subsistence.  Our  objections  were  argued  on  the  following 
grounds : — If  the  Parry  group  had  been  colonized  from  the 
American  continent,  that  continent,  their  nursery,  would 
have  shown  signs  of  a  large  population  at  points  immediately 
in  juxtaposition,  which  it  does  not  do. 

From  the  estuary  of  the  Coppermine  to  the  Great  Fish 
River,  the  Esquimaux  traces  are  less  numerous  than  on  the 
north  shore  of  Barrow's  Strait.  To  assert  that  the  Esqui 
maux  have  travelled  from  the  American  continent  to  the 
bleak  shores  of  Bathurst  Island,  is  to  suppose  a  savage  capa 
ble  of  voluntarily  quitting  a  land  of  plenty  for  one  of  gaunt 
famine  :  on  the  other  hand,  it  seems  unreasonable  to  attribute 
these  signs  of  a  by-gone  people's  existence  to  some  convulsion 
of  nature,  or  some  awful  increase  of  cold,  since  no  similar 
catastrophe  has  occurred  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
Contrary  to  such  opinions,  we  opined  that  the  traces  were 
those  of  a  vast  and  prolonged  emigration,  and  that  it  could 
be  shown,  on  very  fair  premises,  that  a  large  number  of  the 
Innuit,  Skraeling,  or  Esquimaux — call  them  what  you  please 

— had  travelled   from   Asia  to  the  eastward  along  a  much 

f 

higher  parallel  of  latitude  than  the  American  continent,  and, 
in  their  very  natural  search  for  the  most  hospitable  region, 
had  gone  from  the  north  towards  the  south,  not  from  the  south 
towards  the  north,  or,  what  may  yet  one  day  be  laid  open  to 


ESQUIMAUX  TRACES.  199 

the  world,  reached  a  high  northern  latitude,  in  which  a  deep 
and  uncongealable  sea  gives  rise  to  a  milder  climate  and  an 
increased  amount  of  the  capabilities  of  subsistence. 

I  will  now  lightly  sketch  the  probable  route  of  the  Esqui 
maux  emigration,  as  1  believe  it  to  have  taken  place  in  the 
north-east  of  Asia.  The  Tchuktches,  the  only  independent 
tribe  in  Siberia,  are  seen  to  assume,  amongst  that  portion 
of  them  residing  on  the  sea-coast,  habits  closely  analogous  to 
those  of  the  Esquimaux.  The  hunters  of  Siberia  tell  how  a 
similar  race,  the  Omoki,  "  whose  hearths  were  once  more 
numerous  on  the  banks  of  the  Lena  than  the  stars  of  an  Arctic 
night,"  are  gone,  none  know  whither.  The  natives  now 
living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Chelajskoi,  in  Siberia, 
aver  that  emigration  to  a  land  in  the  north-east  had  occurred 
•within  the  memory  of  their  fathers  ;  and  amongst  other  cases 
we  find  them  telling  Wrangell,  that  the  Onkillon  tribe  had 
once  occupied  that  land,  but,  being  attacked  by  the  Tchuktches, 
they,  headed  by  a  chief  called  Krachnoi,  had  taken  shelter  in 
the  land  visible  northward  from  Cape  Jakan. 

This  land,  Wrangell  and  others  did  not  then  believe  in. 
British  seamen  have,  however,  proved  the  assertion  to  be  a 
fact ;  and  Captains  Kellett  and  Moore  have  found  "  an  exten 
sive  land"  in  the  very  direction  the  Siberian  fishermen  declared 
it  to  exist.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into  a  disquisition 
upon  the  causes  which  brought  about  this  emigration.  Sad 
and  bitter  necessity  alone  it  must  have  been  which  thrust 
these  poor  members  of  the  human  family  into  localities 
which,  even  in  Asia,  caused  the  Russians  to  exclaim,  "  What 
could  have  led  men  to  forsake  more  favoured  lands  for  this 
grave  of  Nature?"  Choice  it  could  not  have  been,  for,  in 
America,  we  see  that  the  Esquimaux  has  struggled  hard  to 
reach  southern  and  genial  climes.  In  the  Aleutian  Isles,  and 
on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  local  circumstances  favoured  the 


200  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

attempt,  and  the  Indian  hunter  was  unable  to  subsist  in  lands 
which  were,  comparatively,  overflowing  with  subsistence  for 
the  Arctic  fishermen  ;  but  elsewhere  the  bloodthirsty  races 
of  North  America  obliged  the  human  tide,  which  for  some 
wise  cause  was  made  to  roll  along  the  margin  of  the  Polar 
Sea,  to  confine  itself  purely  to  the  sea-coast ;  and  although 
vast  tracts,  such  as  the  barren  grounds  between  longitudes 
99°  and  109°  W.,  are  at  the  present  day  almost  untenanted, 
still  a  sufficient  population  remains  to  show  that  an  emigra 
tion  of  these  tribes  had  taken  place  there  at  a  remote  period. 

These  people  reached,  in  time,  the  shores  of  Davis's 
Straits  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  and,  in  a  line  parallel  to 
them,  others  of  their  brethren  who  reached  the  land  lately 
re-discovered,  northward  of  Behring's  Straits,  may  have 
likewise  wandered  along  the  Parry  Group  to  Lancaster 
Sound. 

In  order  to  have  done  this,  land  must  be  presumed  to 
extend  from  the  meridian  of  Behring's  Straits  to  Melville 
Island, — a  point  upon  which  few  who  study  the  geography 
of  that  region  can  have  now  a  doubt;  and  eminent  men  have 
long  supposed  it  to  be  the  case,*  from  various  phenomena, 
such  as  the  shallow  nature  of  the  sea  between  the  Mackenzie 
River  and  Behring's  Straits,  and  the  non-appearance  of  heavy 
ice  in  that  direction — all  indicating  that  a  barrier  lay  north 
ward  of  the  American  continent.  The  gallant  squadron, 
under  Captains  Collinson  and  M'Clure,  will,  doubtless,  solve 
this  problem,  and  connect,  either  by  a  continent  or  a  chain 
of  islands,  the  ruined  yourts  of  Cape  Jakan  with  the  time- 
worn  stone  huts  of  Melville  Island. 


*  The  present  talented  hydrographer  of  the  navy,  Sir  F.  Beau 
fort,  foretold  to  the  author,  a  year  before  it  was  discovered,  the 
existence  of  land  north  of  Behring's  Straits. 


ESQUIMAUX  TRACES.  201 

Situated  as  these  places  are,  under  the  same  degree  of 
latitude,  the  savage,  guided  by  the  length  of  his  seasons  and 
the  periodical  arrival  of  bird  and  beast,  would  fearlessly 
progress  along  the  north  shore  of  the  great  strait,  which  may 
be  said  to  extend  from  Lancaster  Sound  to  the  Straits  of 
Behring.  This  progress  was,  doubtless,  a  work  of  centuries, 
but  gradual,  constant,  and  imperative.  The  seal,  the  rein 
deer,  and  the  whale,  all  desert  or  avoid  places  where  man  or 
beast  wages  war  on  them  whilst  multiplying  their  species, 
and  have  to  be  followed,  as  we  find  to  be  the  case  with  our 
hunters,  sealers,  and  whalers  of  the  present  day. 

As  the  northern  Esquimaux  travelled  to  the  east,  offshoots 
from  the  main  body  no  doubt  struck  to  the  southward.  For 
instance,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  Boothia  to  have 
been  originally  peopled  from  the  north.  The  natives  seen 
there  by  Sir  John  Ross  spoke  of  their  fathers  having  fished 
and  lived  in  more  northern  lands.  They  described  the  shores 
of  North  Somerset  sufficiently  to  show  that  they  knew  that  it 
was  only  by  rounding  Cape  Bunny,  that  Ross  could  carry  his 
vessel  into  that  western  sea,  from  whose  waters  an  isthmus 
barred  him  :  and  this  knowledge,  traditional  as  I  believe  it  to 
have  been,  has  since  been  proved  to  be  correct  by  those  who 
wintered  in  Leopold  Harbour  finding  Esquimaux  traces  about 
that  neighbourhood,  and  by  the  foot  journey  of  Sir  James 
Ross,  in  1848,  round  Cape  Bunny  towards  the  Magnetic 
Pole. 

In  corroboration  of  my  idea  that  these  inhabitants  of  the 
Arctic  zone  were  once  very  numerous  along  the  north  shore 
of  Barrow's  Strait  and  Lancaster  Sound,  the  following  local 
ities  were  found  to  abound  with  ruins : — The  gulf  between 
Bathurst  and  Cornwallis  Land,  the  whole  southern  shore  of 
Cornwall  is  Island,  Wellington  Channel,  Cape  Spenser,  and 
Cape  Riley  ;  Radstock  Bay,  Ommanney  Harbour,  near  Cape 

9* 


202  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

Wai-render,  where  the  "Intrepid"  discovered  numerous  well- 
finished  graves,  bearing  the  marks  of  a  comparatively  more 
recent  date.  Passing  Cape  War  render,  I  supposed  the 
remnant  of  the  northern  emigration  from  Asia  to  have  still 
travelled  round  the  coast ;  the  more  so,  as  at  Jones's  Sound, 
the  only  spot  one  of  our  officers  happened  to  land  upon, 
Esquimaux  had  evidently  once  lived.  (  Vide  page  173.)  The 
Arctic  Highlander,  Erasmus  York,  who  was  serving  in  our 
squadron,  seemed  to  believe  his  mother  to  have  dwelt  about 
Smith's  Sound :  all  his  ideas  of  things  that  he  had  heard  of, 
but  not  seen,  referred  to  places  northward.  He  knew  a 
musk-ox  when  shown  a  sketch  of  one,  and  said  that  they 
were  spoken  of  by  his  brethren :  with  a  pencil  he  could 
sketch  the  coast-line  northward  of  where  he  embarked,  Cape 
York,  as  far  as  Whale  Sound,  or  even  farther,  by  tradition  ; 
but  southward  he  knew  of  nothing. 

Old  whale-fishermen  say  that,  when  in  former  days  their 
pursuit  carried  them  into  the  head  of  Baffin's  Bay,  they  found 
the  natives  numerous;  and  it  is  undoubted  that,  in  spite  of 
an  apparently  severe  mortality  amongst  these  Arctic  High 
landers,  or  Northern  Esquimaux,  the  stock  is  not  yet  extinct. 
Every  whaler  who  has  visited  the  coast  northward  of  Cape 
York,  during  late  years,  reports  deserted  villages  and  dead 
bodies,  as  if  some  sudden  epidemic  had  cut  down  men  and 
women  suddenly  and  in  their  prime.  Our  squadron  found 
the  same  thing.  The  "  Intrepid's"  people  found  in  the  huts 
of  the  natives  which  were  situated  close  to  the  winter  quarters 
of  the  "  North  Star,"  in  Wolstenholme  Sound,  numerous 
corpses,  unburied,  indeed,  as  if  the  poor  creatures  had  been 
suddenly  cut  off,  and  their  brethren  had  fled  from  them. 
Poor  York,  who,  amongst  the  dead,  recognized  his  own 
brother,  described  the  malady  of  which  they  died  as  one  of 
the  chest  or  lungs :  at  any  rate,  the  mortality  was  great. 


ESQUIMAUX  TRACES.  203 

Where  did  the  supply  of  human  life  come  from1?  Not 
from  the  south,  for  then  the  Northern  and  Southern  Esqui 
maux  would  have  known  of  each  other's  existence.  Yet  the 
Southern  Esquimaux  have  faint  traditions  of  the  head  of 
Baffin's  Bay  and.  Lancaster  Sound ;  and  Egede  and  Crantz 
tell  us  of  their  belief  in  a  northern  origin,  and  of  their  tales 
of  remote  regions  where  beacons  on  hills  had  been  erected  to 
denote  the  way.  Surely  all  this  points  to  the  long  and  land 
ward  route  pursued  by  this  extraordinary  people. 

It  may  be  quite  possible  that  a  portion  of  the  Esquimaux 
crossed  Davis's  Straits  by  accident  from  the  west  to  the  east: 
such  things  have  occurred  within  the  memory  of  living  men ; 
but  I  deny  that  it  would  ever  be  a  voluntary  act,  and  there 
fore  unlikely  to  have  led  to  the  population  of  South  Green 
land.  A  single  hunter  of  seals,  or  more,  might  have  been 
caught  in  the  ice  and  been  drifted  across,  or  a  boat's  load  of 
women  may  have  been  similarly  obliged  to  perform  a  voyage 
which  would  have  been  very  .distasteful  to  an  Esquimaux; 
but  such  accidents  do  not  populate  countries. 

Lastly,  before  I  quit  this  subject,  it  would  be  as  well  to 
call  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  such  questions  to  the 
extraordinary  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  constantly  starving 
race  upon  the  east  side  of  Greenland.  The  Danish  surveyor's 
(Capt.  Graah)  remarks  lead  me  to  the  opinion  that  these 
people  come  from  more  northern  parts  of  their  own  side  of 
Greenland  ;  and  it  would  be  a  curious  circumstance  if  future 
geographical  discoveries  should  give  us  grounds  to  believe 
that  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Smith's  Sound  the  Esquimaux 
migration  divided,  and  the  one  branch  of  it  followed  down 
the  shores  of  Baffin's  Bay  and  Davis's  Straits,  whilst  the 
other,  tracing  the  northern  coasts  of  Greenland,  eventually 
descended  by  the  eastern  seaboard  to  Cape  Farewell.  The 
nursery,  the  hot-bed  of  this  race,  I  believe  to  exist  northward 


204  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

of  spots  visited  by  us  in  Baffin's  Strait, — for  bay  it  is  not, 
even  if  it  had  no  other  outlets  into  the  Polar  Sea  than  Lan 
caster,  Jones's,  and  Smith's  Sound. 

Revenons  a  nos  moutons  !  The  2d,  3d,  and  4th  of  Sep 
tember  passed  with  much  anxiety ;  the  signals  thrown  out 
by  our  leader,  "  Where  do  you  think  the  '  Intrepid'  is  gone  ?" 
and  on  another  occasion,  "  Do  you  think  the  '  Intrepid'  is  to 
leeward  of  the  pack  T'  denoting  how  much  he  was  thinking 
of  the  missing  steamer.  We  of  the  sister  screw  had  little 
anxiety  as  to  her  safety  or  capability  of  escaping  through 
any  pack  ;  especially  when  alone  and  unhampered  by  having 
to  keep  company.  A  knowledge  of  the  screw,  its  power,  and 
handiness,  gave  us  a  confidence  in  it,  which  we  had  never 
reason  to  regret.  At  first  we  had  been  pitied,  as  men  doomed 
to  be  cast  away  :  we  had  since  learned  to  pity  others,  and  to 
be  envied  in  our  safe  vessels.  The  "great  experiment,"  as  it 
was  called,  had  succeeded,  in  spite  of  the  forebodings  of  the 
ignorant  and  the  half-measured  doubts  of  questionable  friends; 
but  its  crowning  triumph  was  yet  to  come  :  the  single  steamer 
was,  alone,  unaided,  to  penetrate  the  pack  and  seek  her  miss 
ing  mate.  Find  her,  if  she  could;  if  not,  winter,  and  seek 
with  foot  parties,  both  this  autumn  and  next  spring. 

There  was  a  momentary  pang  of  regret  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th  September,  when  I  first  learned  that  the  "  Pioneer" 
was  to  return  into  Wolstenholme  Sound  with  provisions  suffi 
cient  for  herself  and  the  "  Intrepid"  to  meet  two  winters 
more  ;  but  pride  soon,  both  with  myself  and  rny  officers  and 
men,  came  to  the  rescue.  The  "  Intrepid"  might  have  been 
caught,  and  unable  to  extricate  herself.  Of  course  it  was  an 
honourable  mission  to  go  to  the  aid  of  our  comrades,  to  give 
them  the  means  of  subsistence,  to  spend  the  winter  with 
them,  and,  please  God,  escape  next  season,  if  not  before, 
from  the  disagreeable  position  into  which  our  summer  tour  in 


SEARCH  FOR   THE  "  INTREPID."  205 

Baffin's  Bay  had  carried  us :  and  furthermore,  the  screws, 
helpless  babes  !  were  to  winter  alone,  alone  to  find  their  way 
in  and  out  of  the  ice,  and  alone  make  their  way  home, 
whilst  the  huge  incubi  that  had  ridden  us  like  nightmares  du 
ring  the  search  for  Franklin  would  be  (D.  V.)  safely  lashed 
in  Woolwich  dockyard. 

The  5th  was  spent  in  sending  away  all  our  sickly  or  weak 
hands,  increasing  the  complement  of  seamen  by  four,  receiv 
ing  abundance  of  public  and  private  stores,  bidding  good-bye 
to  our  dear  brother  officers  in  the  squadron,  and  friends,  who 
generously  pressed  upon  us  every  thing  they  had  to  spare,  in 
which  they  were  not  more  generous  than  our  leader,  who  put, 
with  the  utmost  liberality,  both  his  kit  and  storeroom  at  our 
disposal.  The  "Pioneer"  was  by  midnight  as  deep  as  a 
sand-barge.  Next  morning  the  commodore  came  on  board, 
gave  me  highly  flattering  orders,  and,  having  read  prayers, 
made  a  speech,  in  which  he  took  an  affectionate  farewell  of 
the  "  Pioneers,"  and  struck  with  happy  effect  the  two  strongest 
chords  in  our  hearts,  thus  : — "  You  hold,"  said  he,  "  Pioneers, 
the  honour  of  the  squadron  in  your  hands.  I  thank  you  all 
for  the  alacrity  and  spirit  with  which  you  have  prepared 
yourselves  to  re-enter  the  ice.  You  shall  be  no  losers  by  it ; 
and  on  my  arrival  in  England  I  will  take  care  to  insure  that 
you  are  not  forgotten  in  rewards :  indeed,  I  shall  consider 
that  you  have  the  first  claim,  provided  your  commander,  on 
his  arrival  in  England,  reports  favourably  on  your  conduct." 
At  eight  o'clock  we  parted  company,  and,  under  sail  and 
steam,  steered  direct  for  Wolstenholme  Island. 

A  little  after  ten  o'clock  we  broke  through  a  neck  of  ice, 
and  had  just  put  the  helm  up*  to  run  down  a  lead,  when, 
happening  to  look  over  my  shoulder  at  the  "Resolute,"  now 
hull  down  to  the  westward,  I  was  astonished  to  see  what  ap 
peared  the  smoke  of  a  gun,  and  soon  afterwards  another,  and 


206  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

another.  The  general  recall  at  the  mast-head  was  next  seen, 
and  the  "  Assistance,"  under  all  sail,  pressing  to  the  south, 
showed  that  the  "  Intrepid"  had  been  caught  sight  of.  Joy 
was  strongly  marked  on  every  countenance  as  we  turned  on 
our  heel,  and  one  exclamation — "  Thank  God  for  our  escape 
from  a  second  winter,"  was  on  every  tongue.  It  would  have 
been  indeed  an  unprofitable  detention  to  have  been  caught 
in  Wolstenholme  Sound  by  the  pack,  as  we  undoubtedly 
should  have  been,  whilst  the  vessel  we  went  to  relieve  was 
safe  without  it.  However,  the  evil  was  now  averted ;  the 
whole  squadron  was  united,  my  provisions,  men,  and  stores 
again  taken  out,  and  a  memorandum  issued,  the  purport  of 
which  was  that  we  were  to  go  to  Woolwich.  At  eight 
o'clock  the  yards  were  squared,  sails  spread,  and  homeward 
we  steered. 

Fresh  and  fair  gales,  a  sea  entirely  clear  of  all  but  stray 
icebergs,  and  here  and  there  a  patch  of  broken  ice,  gave  us 
nothing  to  do  but  endeavour  to  reduce  our  speed  sufficiently 
under  canvas  to  insure  not  outrunning  our  consorts.  In 
eight  days  we  reached  the  latitude  of  Cape  Farewell.  Once 
in  the  Atlantic,  strong  gales  and  dark  nights  rendered  it 
impossible  for  such  ill-matched  consorts  to  keep  company, 
and  we  found  ourselves  alone,  sighting  the  Orkneys  fourteen 
days  after  bearing  up  from  the  latitude  of  Wolstenholme 
Island  in  Baffin's  Bay,  and  anchored  at  Grimsby  in  the  river 
Humber,  exactly  three  weeks  from  the  commencement  of 
our  homeward-bound  voyage.  The  rest  of  the  squadron 
followed  us  to  Woolwich,  where  all  were  paid  off  safe  and 
sound,  with  the  exception  of  one  man,  the  only  one  missing 
out  of  the  original  one  hundred  and  eighty  officers  and  men 
who  had  sailed  in  1850,  under  Captain  Horatio  T.  Austin, 
c.  B.,  to  rescue  or  solve  the  fate  of  the  expedition  com 
manded  by  Captain  Sir  John  Franklin. 


OPINION  OF  FRIENDS  AND  THE  PUBLIC.  207 

Our  self-importance  as  Arctic  heroes  of  the  first  water 
received  a  sad  downfall  when  we  were  first  asked  by  a  kind 
friend,  what  the  deuce  we  came  home  for  ?  We  had  a  good 
many  becauses  ready,  but  he  overturned  them  altogether ; 
so  we  had  resort  to  the  usual  resource  of  men  in  such  a  posi 
tion  :  we  said,  "There  was  a  barrier  of  ice  across  Welling 
ton  Channel  in  1850."  Our  friend  said,  "I  deny  it  was  a 
permanent  one,  for  the  Americans  drifted  through  it !"  "  In 
deed  !"  we  exclaimed,  "  at  any  rate  there  was  one  there  in 
1851."  "Yes,  granted,  on  the  12th  of  August ;  but  you 
know  there  was  a  month  of  open  season  left :  and,  like  an 
honest  man,  say  how  long  it  would  take  for  that  barrier, 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  wide,  to  disperse."  "  As  many 
hours !"  was  our  reply  :  "  and  we  have  forsworn  in  future 
barriers  of  ice  as  well  as  barriers  of  land." 

"VVhat  the  deuce  we  came  home  for?  and  why  we  deserted 
Franklin?  were  pleasant  questions;  and  at  first  we  felt 
inclined  to  be  angry.  Those,  however,  who  asked  them 
had  cause  and  reason  for  doing  so.  We  were  in  the  dark  as 
to  much  that  had  been  arrived  at  in  England.  We  knew 
but  of  our  own  limited  personal  experience,  and  had  had 
neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  compare  notes  with  others. 
The  public  at  home  sat  down  with  the  accumulated  evidence 
of  two  British  expeditions  and  an  American  one.  They 
passed  a  verdict  that  Franklin  had  gone  up  Wellington 
Channel,  and  that,  having  gone  up  there,  in  obedience  to  his 
country's  orders,  it  was  the  duty  of  that  country  to  send 
after  him,  save  him,  or  solve  his  fate.  I  for  one  knew  I 
had  done  my  duty  in  the  sphere  allotted  to  me,  although 
feeling  at  first  that  the  public  verdict  reflected  somewhat 
upon  me  as  well  as  others.  But  "  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei." 
I  bowed  tacitly  to  its  decision,  until  attempts  were  made  to 
damp  the  hopes  of  the  more  sanguine, — in  fact,  to  save  our 


208  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

credit  at  the  expense  of  Franklin's  existence.  It  was  time 
then  to  reconsider  in  all  its  points  the  subject  of  farther 
search,  to  compare  my  own  recent  impression  of  things  with 
facts  that  were  now  before  the  world,  and  then  to  judge  for 
myself  whether  any  one  had  a  right  to  declaim  against 
farther  efforts  to  save  Franklin's  expedition. 

Need  I  say  I  found  none.  On  comparing  the  informa 
tion,  the  phenomena  observed  in  our  own  squadron  with 
those  of  Captain  Penny's,  and  the  Americans  under  Lieu 
tenant  De  Haven,  I  saw  more  and  more  clearly  that  a  north 
ern  sea,  an  open  water,  must  have  been  close  to  us  in  1850 
and  1851,  when  we  were  about  Wellington  Channel ;  that 
that  sea  was  not  blocked  with  ice  in  1850,  as  we  had  igno- 
rantly  supposed  ;  and  that  as  assuredly  as  it  was  proved 
that  Sir  John  Franklin  had  not  gone  to  Cape  Walker,  nor 
disobeyed  his  orders  by  going  to  Melville  Island,  so  certain 
did  it  now  become  that  up  Wellington  Channel  he  had 
steered  to  that  open  sea,  which,  whether  limited  or  encircling 
the  Pole,  it  was  his  object  to  enter.  It  was  water  and  an 
open  sea  that  Franklin  wanted  to  achieve  the  North-west 
Passage ;  and  there  it  was  before  him.  Can  any  one  sup 
pose  him,  accuse  him,  capable  of  hesitating  to  enter  it  1 

Those  who  will  not  admit  this,  have  recourse  to  two 
infallible  Arctic  solutions  for  the  dilemma  in  which  they  are 
placed ;  it  must  be  either  an  impenetrable  barrier  of  ice  in 
Wellington  Channel,  or  the  ships  must  have  been  beset  in 
the  pack,  and  have  perished,  without  God's  providence  help 
ing  them,  as  it  has  helped  all  others  similarly  placed,  without 
leaving  a  single  survivor  or  a  vestige  of  any  description. 
No  such  wholesale  calamity  is  on  record. 

Let  us  inquire  into  this  barrier  of  ice  in  Wellington 
Channel.  Twice  had  Parry  seen  the  channel,  in  1819  and 
1820 ;  he  saw  no  barrier  then.  We  reached  it  in  the  fall 


CHANCES  OF  FUTURE  SUCCESS.  209 

of  1850,  after  a  very  backward  and  severe  summer,  with 
winter  fast  closing  in  upon  us.  We  saw  long  flights  of  birds 
retreating  from  their  summer  breeding-places  somewhere 
beyond  the  broad  fields  of  ice  that  lay  athwart  its  channel. 
We  wondered  at  the  numerous  shoals  of  white  whale  passing, 
from  some  unknown  northern  region,  southward  to  more 
genial  climes.  We  talked  of  fixed  ice,  yet  in  one  day  twelve 
miles  of  it  came  away,  and  nearly  beset  us  amongst  its 
fragments.  We  heard  Captain  Penny's  report  that  there 
was  water  to  be  seen  north  of  the  remaining  belt,  of  about 
ten  miles  in  width.  We  were  like  deaf  adders  ;  we  were 
obstinate,  and  went  into  winter  quarters  under  Griffith's 
Island,  believing  that  nothing  more  could  be  done,  because 
a  barrier  of  fixed  ice  extended  across  Wellington  Channel ! 
We  were  miserably  mistaken. 

The  expedition  under  Lieutenant  De  Haven  was  then  drift 
ing  slowly  over  the  place  where  we,  in  our  ignorance,  had 
placed  fixed  ice  in  our  charts;  and  to  them  likewise  the 
•wisdom  of  an  all-merciful  Providence  revealed  the  fact  of  a 
northern  sea  of  open  water,  that  they  might  be  additional 
witnesses  in  the  hour  of  need.  We  cannot  do  better  than 
read  the  plain  unvarnished  tale  of  the  gallant  American — a 
tale  of  calm  heroism  under  no  ordinary  trials,  which  stamps 
the  document  as  the  truthful  narration  of  a  gentleman  and  a 
sailor.  He  says,  after  describing  the  being  beset  by  young 
ice  in  the  mouth  of  Wellington  Channel,  and  drifting  north 
ward,  owing  to  southerly  winds, — 

"On  the  18th  September  we  were  above  Cape  Bowden. 
....  To  account  for  this  drift,  the  fixed  ice  of  Wellington 
Channel,  which  we  had  observed  in  passing  to  the  westward, 
must  have  been  broken  up,  and  driven  to  the  southward  by 
the  heavy  gale  the  12th  (September). 

"  We  continued  to  drift  slowly  to  the  N.  N.  W.  until  the 


210  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

22d,  when  our  progress  appeared  to  be  arrested  by  a  small 
low  island,  which  was  discovered  about  seven  miles  distant. 

^Between  Cornwallis  Island  and  some  distant  high  land 
visible  in  the  north,  appeared  a  wide  channel,  leading  to  the 
westward.  A  dark,  misty-looking  cloud  which  hung  over  it 
(technically  termed  frost-smoke)  was  indicative  of  much  open 
water  in  that  direction. 

"  Nor  was  the  open  water  the  only  indication  that  pre 
sented  itself  in  confirmation  of  theoretical  conjecture  as  to  a 
milder  climate  in  that  direction.  As  we  entered  Wellington 
Channel  the  signs  of  animal  life  became  more  abundant." 

So  much,  then,  for  the  barrier  of  ice  in  Wellington  Chan 
nel  in  1850.  Let  us  now  speak  of  what  was  there  in  1851. 
On  the  llth  of  August  about  as  much  fixed  floe  was  remain 
ing  in  Wellington  Channel  as  had  been  found  by  us  on  the 
previous  year,  a  month  later  in  the  season.  On  that  occasion, 
late  as  it  was,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Lieutenant  De  Haven 
to  prove  the  channel  opened :  why  should  we  doubt  it  doing 
so  in  1851  ?  An  open  sea  existed  on  both  sides  of  a  belt  of 
ice,  rotten,  full  of  holes,  unfit  to  travel  over  (as  Penny's 
officers  reported  it),  full  thirty  days  before  the  winter  set  in ; 
is  there  an  Arctic  navigator  hardy  enough  to  say  he  believes 
that  that  belt  would  have  been  found  there  on  the  next 
spring-tide  after  our  squadron  was  liberated  from  Griffith's 
Island  ?  Then,  1  repeat,  if  it  is  allowed  that  Wellington 
Channel  was  open  in  1819,  1820,  1850,  and  1851,  it  is  natu 
ral  to  infer  that  it  was  open  when  Franklin  wished  to  pass 
through  it  in  1846,  and  that,  under  such  circumstances,  he 
would,  in  obedience  to  his  orders,  have  gone  by  it  to  the 
N.W. 

The  day  has  not  long  passed  by  when  it  was  tried  to  be 
proved,  en  undoubted  testimony,  that  Barrow's  Strait  was 


CHANCES  OF  FUTURE  SUCCESS.  211 

barred  with  the  accumulated  ice  of  years, — and  this  in  the 
face  of  an  autumnal  drift  of  a  naval  squadron  for  350  miles 
in  the  pack  of  Lancaster.  What  say  these  barrier-builders 
to  the  winter  drift  of  the  American  schooners  under  Lieu 
tenant  De  Haven  ?  Does  his  marvellous  cruise  teach  us 
nothing1?  Between  the  1st  of  November,  1850,  and  the  6th 
of  June,  1851,  his  squadron  was  swept  in  one  vast  field  of 
ice  from  the  upper  part  of  Wellington  Channel  to  the  south 
ward  of  Cape  Walsingham,  in  Davis's  Straits,  through  a  tor 
tuous  route  of  full  1000  miles  !  Yes,  reader,  the  "  Res 
cue"  and  "Advance"  were  beset  in  young  bay-ice  in  and 
about  Wellington  Channel ;  but  during  the  winter,  amidst 
the  darkness,  amidst  fierce  gales,  when  the  God  of  storms 
alone  could  and  did  shield  those  brave  barks,  they  and 
the  ice  in  which  they  had  been  beset,  moved,  with  few  pauses, 
steadily  and  slowly  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  reached  it 
by  the  summer  of  the  following  year. 

It  is  true,  our  expedition  was  prevented,  by  ice,  from  ad 
vancing  to  the  west  of  Griffith's  Island.  But  let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  we  came,  in  that  direction,  upon  any  fixed  bar 
of  ice  or  interminable  floe-edge  :  far  otherwise  ;  for  when,  as 
I  have  elsewhere  said,  Lieutenant  Aldrich  was  sent,  a  few 
days  after  our  arrival  at  winter  quarters,  to  travel  on  foot  to 
Lowther  Island,  he  found  the  task  a  hopeless  one,  as  water, 
bay-ice,  and  a  broken  pack,  lay  between  Somerville  Island 
and  it.  We,  likewise,  in  our  spring  journeys,  found  ice, 
smooth  as  glass,  formed,  evidently  during  the  past  winter, 
surrounding  Lowther  Island.  It  wns  traced  by  Lieutenant 
M'Clintock,  leading,  in  exactly  the  form  of  the  lead  of  water 
found  in  1819  and  1820  by  Sir  E.  Parry,  in  his  voyage  to 
Winter  Island  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt,  that,  beyond 
the  floe-pieces  which  choked  the  channel  between  Griffith's 
Island  and  Cape  Bunny,  we  should,  in  1850,  have  found 


212  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

water  leading  us  to  Winter  Harbour,  and  up  the  noble  chan 
nel  north  of  Byam  Martin  Island. 

Enough  of  icy  barriers.  I  do  not  believe  in  Nature  hay 
ing  placed  such  fixtures  on  the  "  vasty  deep  ;"  but  I  am  ready 
to  allow  that  there  are  places  in  which  accumulations  of  ice 
naturally  exist,  and  where  the  ice  moves  away  less  rapidly 
than  in  other  parts.  By  looking  at  the  chart,  and  taking  into 
consideration  the  geographical  conformation  of  such  spots, 
the  cause  will  at  once  appear. 

In  a  line  across  the  head  of  Davis's  Straits,  the  pack  hangs, 
because  it  is  there  met,  in  its  downward  course,  by  thp  whole 
weight  of  the  Atlantic  Sea,  and  strong  southerly  gyles  blow 
ing  up  that  funnel-shaped  strait.  About  Leopold  Island  the 
pack  hangs,  for  it  is  acted  upon  by  the  cross-tides  of  Welling 
ton  Channel  and  Regent's  Inlet  running  athwart  those  of  Bar 
row's  Strait,  and  forming  a  sort  of  eddy,  or  still  water.  This 
occurs  again  in  the  elbow  of  Wellington  Channel,  and  between 
Griffith's  Island  and  Cape  Bunny,  where  a  narrowing  strait, 
and  the  cross-tide  of  the  channel  towards  the  American  coast, 
tie  up  the  broad  floes  formed  in  the  great  water-space  west  of 
that  point ;  and  lastly,  a  similar  choke  takes  place,  apparently 
off  the  S.  W.  extreme  of  Melville  Island. 

Failing  in  barriers,  these  Job's  comforters  dismiss  the 
subject  by  swallowing  up  the  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror,"  hull, 
masts,  sails,  and  crew,  in  some  especially  infernal  tempest  or 
convulsion  executed  for  the  occasion :  they— the  Job's  com 
forters — have  no  similar  case  to  adduce  in  proof  of  such  a 
catastrophe.  Every  body  who  goes  to  the  frozen  regions 
tells  of  the  hairbreadth  escapes  and  imminent  dangers  attend 
ant  on  Arctic  navigation.  I  am  free  to  acknowledge,  I  have 
"  piled  the  agony"  to  make  my  work  sell.  Behold  the  "  Pio 
neer"  in  a  nip  in  Melville  Bay  ;  the  "  Resolute"  thumping 
the  pack  off  Griffith's  Island  ;  the  "Assistance"  holding  on  to 


CHANCES  OF  FUTURE  SUCCESS.  213 

a  floe-edge  with  a  moving  one  threatening  to  sink  her ;  and 
the  "Intrepid"  on  the  slope  of  an  iceberg,  high  and  dry  :  yet 
all  are  safe  and  sound  in  Woolwich  dockyard :  the  brigs,  "  Res 
cue"  and  "Advance,"  beset  for  267  days,  drifting  during  a 
Polar  winter  1150  miles,  enduring  all  possible  hardship  and 
risk,  yet  both  vessels  and  men  are  safe  and  sound.  Captain 
Penny's  two  vessels,  the  "  Lady  Franklin"  and  "  Sophia,"  if 
their  figure-heads  could  speak,  would  "  a  tale  unfold."  Not 
the  most  extraordinary  part  of  their  adventures  was,  being 
caught  in  a  gale  in  a  bay  on  the  coast  of  Greenland,  and  being 
forced  by  a  moving  iceberg  through  a  field  of  ice  full  three 
feet  thick,  the  vessels  rearing  and  plunging  through  it;  yet 
they  are  all  safe  and  sound.  The  "  North  Star,"  the  "  Enter 
prise,"  and  "  Investigator,"  and  farther  back,  the  "  Terror," 
farther  still,  the  "Dorothea"  and  "Trent,"  have,  with  many 
more  we  could  enumerate,  seen  no  ordinary  Arctic  dangers  ; 
but,  thanks  to  a  merciful  Providence,  unattended  with  loss 
of  life.  Why,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  charity,  consign 
those  who  are  dear  to  us,  as  relatives,  friends,  or  country 
men,  to  sudden  death  in  the  dark  waters  of  Lancaster  Sound 
or  Baffin's  Bay.  No  one  who  knew  the  men  of  that  gallant 
squadron  would  so  libel  the  leader,  or  his  officers,  as  to  sup 
pose  them  to  have  turned  back  when  at  the  threshold  of 
their  labours  :  if  he  does  so,  he  does  them  foul  injustice. 
And  against  such  I  appeal,  in  the  name  of  that  humanity 
which  was  never  invoked  in  vain  in  a  Christian  land. 

Give  the  lost  ones  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  if  there  is  one 
on  your  minds.  Let  not  selfish  indifference  to  your  fellow- 
creatures'  fate  induce  you  to  dismiss  the  question  by  adopting 
any  of  the  horrible  opinions  to  which  unfeeling  men  have 
given  utterance.  True  it  is,  they  are  in  sad  peril ;  true  it  is, 
they  have  suffered  long  and  much  ;  true  it  is,  that  many  may 
have  fallen  by  the  way  :  but  the- remnant,  however  small,  of 


214  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

that  heroic  band,  be  assured,  by  one  who  knew  many  of  them 
intimately  and  dearly,  will  despair  not,  but,  trusting  in  their 
God,  their  Queen,  and  country,  they  will  cling  to  hope  with 
life's  latest  breath. 

They  have  done  their  duty  :  let  us  not  be  wanting  in  ours. 
The  rescue  of  Franklin's  squadron,  or  the  solution  of  their 
fate,  entails  no  extraordinary  risk  of  life  upon  the  part  of 
those  employed  in  the  search.  Insurances  to  any  amount — 
and  I  speak  from  a  knowledge  of  the  fact — may  be  effected 
in  the  various  insurance  offices  in  London  with  a  lighter 
premium  than  is  demanded  for  the  Bights  of  Benin  or  Ben 
gal.  This  is  a  pretty  good  test,  and  a  sound  practical  one, 
too,  of  the  much-talkcd-of  dangers  of  Polar  navigation.  Ships 
are  often  lost ;  but  the  very  floe  which  by  its  pressure  sinks 
the  vessel  saves  the  crew. 

In  short,  we  have  every  thing  to  stimulate  Arctic  explo 
ration.  No  loss  of  life ;  (for  Franklin  it  will  be  time  enough 
to  mourn  when  we  know  he  is  not  of  the  living*)  the  won 
derful  proofs  lately  acquired  of  a  Polar  sea  ;  the  undoubted 
existence  of  animal  life  in  regions  which  were  previously 
supposed  to  be  incapable  of  supporting  animal  life ;  the 
result  of  the  deeply  philosophical  inquiries  of  the  talented 
geographer,  Mr.  Peterman,  which  seem  to  establish  the  fact 
of  an  open  Polar  sea  during  the  severest  season  of  the  year ; 
and  lastly,  the  existence  of  Esquimaux  in  a  high  northern 
latitude  in  Baffin's  Bay,  who  appear  to  be  so  isolated,  and  so 
unconnected  with  their  brethren  of  South  Greenland,  as  to 
justify  us  in  connecting  them  rather  with  the  numerous 
ruined  habitations  found  westward  as  far  as  Melville  Island, 
and  lead  the  mind  to  speculate  upon  some  more  northern 
region, — some  terra,  incognita,  yet  to  be  visited  by  us, — 
encourages  us,  aye,  urges  us  not  to  halt  in  our  explo 
ration.  Humanity  and  science  are  united  in  the  cause : 


CHANCES  OF  FUTURE  SUCCESS.  215 

where  one  falters,  let  a  love  for  the  other  encourage  us  to 
persevere. 

Franklin  and  his  matchless  followers  need  no  euTogy 
from  me  ;  the  sufferings  they  must  have  undergone,  the  mys 
tery  that  hangs  over  them,  are  on  every  tongue  in  every 
civilized  land. 

The  blooming  child  lisps  Franklin's  name,  as  with  glis 
tening  eye  and  greedy  ear  it  hears  of  the  wonders  of  the 
North,  and  the  brave  deeds  there  done.  Youth's  bosom 
glows  with  generous  emotion  to  emulate  the  fame  of  him 
who  has  gone  where  none  as  yet  have  followed.  And  who 
amongst  us  does  not  feel  his  heart  throb  faster  in  recalling 
to  recollection  the  calm  heroism  of  the  veteran  leader,  who, 
when  about  to  enter  the  unknown  regions  of  which  Welling 
ton  Channel  is  the  portal,  addressed  his  crews  in  those  solemn 
and  emphatic  words  of  Holy  Writ, — his  motto,  doubtless, — 
"  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  you  will  serve  ;"  and  found  in 
that  blissful  choice  his  strength  and  his  endurance. 

To  rescue  even  one  life  were  surely  well  worthy  our  best 
endeavours  ;  but  if  it  so  please  an  all-merciful  Providence 
that  aid  should  reach  Franklin's  ships  too  late  to  save  even 
that  one,  yet  would  we  have  fulfilled  a  high  and  imperative 
duty  :  and  would  it  be  no  holy  satisfaction  to  trace  the  last 
resting-place  of  those  gallant  spirits?  to  recover  the  records, 
there  assuredly  to  be  found,  of  their  manly  struggle,  under 
hardships  and  difficulties,  in  achieving  that  North-west  Pas 
sage,  in  the  execution  of  which  they  had  laid  down  their 
lives'?  and  to  bring  back  to  their  surviving  relatives  and 
friends  those  last  kind  messages  of  love,  which  show  that 
sincere  affection  and  stern  sense  of  duty  sprang  from  one 
source  in  their  gallant  and  generous  hearts  ? 

Yes,  of  course  it  would.  Then,  and  not  till  then — taking 
this,  the  gloomiest  view  of  the  subject — shall  we  have  done 


216  ARCTIC  JOURNAL. 

our  duty  towards  the  captains,  officers,  and  crews  of  Her 
Majesty's  ships  "  Erebus"  and  "  Terror  ;"  and  then,  and  not 
until  then,  of  their  honoured  leader  we  may  safely  say  : — 

"  His  soul  to  Him  who  gave  it  rose ; 
God  led  its  long  repose, 

Its  glorious  rest ! 

And  though  the  warrior's  sun  has  set, 
Its  light  shall  linger  round  us  yet, 
Bright,  radiant,  blest!" 


THE    END. 


•RiUS 

*PR  2  6  bjg 

ISTsoW1  4 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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